DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[pandakatelyn]

Starting a new batch soon. Was curious if anyone has tried adding pineapple or orange juice in place of the lemon?

 

[Chinook]

Starting a new batch soon. Was curious if anyone has tried adding pineapple or orange juice in place of the lemon?

Tropical Daze Recipe uses Pineapple Juice.
https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/tropical-daze.36346/
Orange is an interesting idea

 

[pandakatelyn]

Got 3 batches in the works now...cherry very berry is in the carboy to clear, and 2 tropicals are going. Pineapple, mango, strawberry blend. One has peaches and I plan on adding peach flavoring towards the end for that extra punch. Going to be tasty for hotter months.

 

[Chinook]

Got 3 batches in the works now...cherry very berry is in the carboy to clear, and 2 tropicals are going. Pineapple, mango, strawberry blend. One has peaches and I plan on adding peach flavoring towards the end for that extra punch. Going to be tasty for hotter months.

By co-incidence I just got Peach flavouring , 4 oz supposed to be full flavour for 4 gallons, $9.50 from my local wine kit shop.


I just bottled a Tropical Lime, 3 gallons + some overflow bottles ,
13.6 ABV - final ABV after backsweetening to 1/3 cup per gallon sugar ratio. (.0208333)
Recipe:
* made from Lime (Dragon Blood Ratio)
* two pineapples - sliced and diced out the fruit,
* three pounds bananas,
* and two pkgs Mangoes frozen fruit at 600 gm each + i pkg tropical fruit blend ,
Total gm frozen fruit = 1800 gm. = 2.6 lbs.

 

[pandakatelyn]

By co-incidence I just got Peach flavouring , 4 oz supposed to be full flavour for 4 gallons, $9.50 from my local wine kit shop.

Let me know how you like it! I'm making a list to hit up my local shop this weekend.

 

[Chinook]

Let me know how you like it! I'm making a list to hit up my local shop this weekend.

They have about 30-50 flavors there even Habanero (hot)!

Here: See for yourself. website with pictures.
Also pdf's for contents of each flavorings (amt sorbate etc)

http://www.brewersbestkits.com/natural-flavorings.html

 

[G259]

They can't make it hot enough for me! Ooo Ooo! Gotta Go! . . .

 

[pandakatelyn]

One last question.. This is the first recipe I've used outside of a kit, and I'm curious why you leave the lid loose/cover with towel and not use an airlock? Hoping for some education! Just got a PLAATO airlock for some other brews and wanted to give it a whirl with a DB.

 

[cmason1957]

One last question.. This is the first recipe I've used outside of a kit, and I'm curious why you leave the lid loose/cover with towel and not use an airlock? Hoping for some education! Just got a PLAATO airlock for some other brews and wanted to give it a whirl with a DB.

there's a simpler answer to that than you might think. Most of us don't use an airlock for primary fermentation at all. Personally, I use one for white wines or things I really am trying to maintain the volatile fragrances, but otherwise, just a slight covering over the top.

Both ways work just fine, your wine produces plenty of CO2 during primary fermentation to prevent oxidation and the yest don't mind the extra oxygen they get at that point.

 

[Chinook]

One last question.. This is the first recipe I've used outside of a kit, and I'm curious why you leave the lid loose/cover with towel and not use an airlock? Hoping for some education! Just got a PLAATO airlock for some other brews and wanted to give it a whirl with a DB.

While it is fermenting, it needs air, when it is aging or extremely last stages of fermentation -very slow fermenting or simply bullk aging to the end then air can oxidize the wine and is the enemy..

When SG drops to near .990 then I transfer to carboy, I let any minor fermentation or settling take place for the next 3 to 7 days then I stabilize the wine (sulphide + sorbate then add fining agents)

 

[Chinook]

One last question.. This is the first recipe I've used outside of a kit, and I'm curious why you leave the lid loose/cover with towel and not use an airlock? Hoping for some education! Just got a PLAATO airlock for some other brews and wanted to give it a whirl with a DB.

I think the PLAATO was designed for use primarily wih brewing Ales and Beers? I am just researching up on it now. Let us know your experience with it.

 

[Howe1999]

Can I degas this in the primary fermenter bucket? its much easier then doing it in a carboy.

 

[Chinook]

Can I degas this in the primary fermenter bucket? its much easier then doing it in a carboy.

How are you degassing? What makes it easier?

 

[NJWhino]

How are you degassing? What makes it easier?

Howe1999 & Chinook -

I bit the proverbial bullet and purchased the All-In-One Wine (AIO) Pump and it is AMAZING! In addition to making my life MUCH easier during racking, it also DEGASSES your wine at the same time using a negative pressure vacuum! As well - it has also made bottling a cinch! It takes me the same time to rack (and DEGAS) 2x-3x 6-gallon carboys using the AIO as it used to take me to xfer ONE using the traditional siphon/gravity method. I suggest you look into it. There are PLENTY of message threads here on WMT where you can find reviews/setup help/pictures/etc for the AIO.

Good Luck!

NJW

 

[Chinook]

Howe1999 & Chinook -

I bit the proverbial bullet and purchased the All-In-One Wine (AIO) Pump and it is AMAZING! In addition to making my life MUCH easier during racking, it also DEGASSES your wine at the same time using a negative pressure vacuum! As well - it has also made bottling a cinch! It takes me the same time to rack (and DEGAS) 2x-3x 6-gallon carboys using the AIO as it used to take me to xfer ONE using the traditional siphon/gravity method. I suggest you look into it. There are PLENTY of message threads here on WMT where you can find reviews/setup help/pictures/etc for the AIO.

Good Luck!

NJW

Sounds good. Yeah currently I am using a Better Crocker cake mixer, also a drill.
I made stir stixs from some kind of PVC flexible pipe and cut the ends. It opens up inside the carboy. The other end is cut to attach it to the mixer.

 

[CheerfulHeart]

Oooo, I need to try that!! I used white zin last time and I was curious what it'd be with a darker wine.

The other thing I might try is using just a little bit less lemon juice if I plan to top up with the red wine. I'm thinking maybe about 4 ounces less.

 

[Fencepost]

@CheerfulHeart @pandakatelyn last two DDDB I did with blackberries, I added grape wine (that I had made) I used a 90/10 ratio... 90% DD Blackberry and 10% Cab Sav on one and one a 90/10 DD Blackberry/Pinot Noir.... I like the grape wine in the mix... really adds something to it. I tried other ratios 50/50 75/25 but ended up with what I liked best... 90/10. It also deepens the red to a very pretty "Christmas" Red. Hope you find what works best for you!

 

[Chinook]

@CheerfulHeart @pandakatelyn last two DDDB I did with blackberries, I added grape wine (that I had made) I used a 90/10 ratio... 90% DD Blackberry and 10% Cab Sav on one and one a 90/10 DD Blackberry/Pinot Noir.... I like the grape wine in the mix... really adds something to it. I tried other ratios 50/50 75/25 but ended up with what I liked best... 90/10. It also deepens the red to a very pretty "Christmas" Red. Hope you find what works best for you!

Very useful information. A ten percent blend is very economical. I will try this blend formula

 

[MarcOlivetti]

DDDB foaming at bottling ? I jumped in with both feet and started the DDDB as outlined on page 1 using the tri-berry blend as called for (I did add 1lb fzn Cherries I had sitting in the freezer). I followed each step, making sure I hit each benchmark & SG. At Step 4 the SG = 0.998 for 3 days, I racked using my new AIO (thanks Steve) adding the 1/4tsp. Potassium Metabisulfite, then racked and the next day (using AIO) adding the Sparkoloid (as directed), & topped of with a med white zin. After 1 week the wine cleared really well.

Step 5 with clear wine I racked off 1gal and then addding 3 tsp. Potassium Sorbate the rest into “clean & sanitized” carboy (having fun with the AIO) I racked again 2 days later backsweetening to 1.008 (overshot target of 1.005), then waited another week, then decided to filter .5micron (yes, I love the AIO), and waited another week before bottling (no movement on SG).

Here’s where I think I have a problem!

Using my new bottling attachment, the DDDB has about a1/2” of foam at the top of each 750ml bottle, I thought it was just the Star San at first, but at the 4th bottle I’m thinking “well this isn’t right”; I stop bottling and grab one of the first bottled (still has foam sitting on top after 2-3min) and cover with hand & shake. Yes, got the “pop” and more foam! Screaming not degassed?? ok then, I stop and clean up from bottling and break out the drill and wine whip. I get quite a bit of foam on top (maybe 2”) and degas ~30-40min. Put an airlock back on and cover Carboy.

3 days later foam is gone, so I shake the Carboy and here comes the foam, but no bubbles? Next day foam is gone so I switch over to Steve’s Headspace Eliminator (HE) no bubbles but a little foam. A week later I shake again and here comes the foam again. I replace the HE with airlock, cover the carboy, scratch my head and bum!

I'm at a loss.? Any insights??

 

[Johnd]

DDDB foaming at bottling ? I jumped in with both feet and started the DDDB as outlined on page 1 using the tri-berry blend as called for (I did add 1lb fzn Cherries I had sitting in the freezer). I followed each step, making sure I hit each benchmark & SG. At Step 4 the SG = 0.998 for 3 days, I racked using my new AIO (thanks Steve) adding the 1/4tsp. Potassium Metabisulfite, then racked and the next day (using AIO) adding the Sparkoloid (as directed), & topped of with a med white zin. After 1 week the wine cleared really well.

Step 5 with clear wine I racked off 1gal and then addding 3 tsp. Potassium Sorbate the rest into “clean & sanitized” carboy (having fun with the AIO) I racked again 2 days later backsweetening to 1.008 (overshot target of 1.005), then waited another week, then decided to filter .5micron (yes, I love the AIO), and waited another week before bottling (no movement on SG).

Here’s where I think I have a problem!

Using my new bottling attachment, the DDDB has about a1/2” of foam at the top of each 750ml bottle, I thought it was just the Star San at first, but at the 4th bottle I’m thinking “well this isn’t right”; I stop bottling and grab one of the first bottled (still has foam sitting on top after 2-3min) and cover with hand & shake. Yes, got the “pop” and more foam! Screaming not degassed?? ok then, I stop and clean up from bottling and break out the drill and wine whip. I get quite a bit of foam on top (maybe 2”) and degas ~30-40min. Put an airlock back on and cover Carboy.

3 days later foam is gone, so I shake the Carboy and here comes the foam, but no bubbles? Next day foam is gone so I switch over to Steve’s Headspace Eliminator (HE) no bubbles but a little foam. A week later I shake again and here comes the foam again. I replace the HE with airlock, cover the carboy, scratch my head and bum!

I'm at a loss.? Any insights??

Slow done, take a breath, smell the triple berry flowers. Your wine is super young, has been through a lot of changes in a short time, and a lot of processing. It will degas on its own, if simply left alone.

If you must, you can speed it up by vacuum racking and / or whipping, or simply pulling a vacuum on your carboy. Pretty sure the AIO pump pulls 22 - 25 in Hg, get your wine into the mid 70’s for best results.