DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[cmason1957]

At least 4 or 5 months maybe longer.

 

[wineview]

Looking for opinions.

If I needed about two 750 ml bottles to top off a six gallon carboy of petite Syrah and I used DB, would that change the wine in a drastic way?

 

[sour_grapes]

Looking for opinions.

If I needed about two 750 ml bottles to top off a six gallon carboy of petite Syrah and I used DB, would that change the wine in a drastic way?

Sounds too risky to me. I would sooner grab a couple bottles of cheap-ish Cab, Merlot, Zin....

 

[Retired teacher]

I just noticed that the Triple Berry blend I use for my DB is high in vitamin C. Not just a buzz but a healthy buzz! My wife will be glad to hear that!

 

[wineview]

Sounds too risky to me. I would sooner grab a couple bottles of cheap-ish Cab, Merlot, Zin....

Agreed. I have a lot of bottles in my rack I can use. Posted the question out of curiosity.

 

[Jal5]

I opened my last bottle from 2018 DB today. Wow it was so smooth and delicious. The moral of the story is let some bottles age! Even though it’s “an early drinker”.this was the usual mixed frozen fruit batch.
Joe

 

[Billdean]

I just bottle up a case and a half of the original Dragon Blood. It's really good now! It's only 2 1/2 months old, so I am looking forward to tasting it when it gets some age. It seem pretty impressive it will last 5 years with out degrading!

 

[Billdean]

I did a 3 gallon batch of peach DB. I used 4 pound of peaches, 1 pound of bananas, 48 oz of pineapple juice and 1 1/4 cups of lemon juice. I started it on 4-23-23 with a sg of 1.086 and a ph of 3.31. I rack on 5-30-23 added 1/8 teaspoon K-meta and 2 teaspoon of sorbate And fining agents. Sg .990 ph 3.34. It has cleared up nicely now. On 6-14-23 i added 1 1/2 cups of white sugar. Today I tasted it again and it is still a little bit bitter. It has a peach smell and taste but not much flavor. Today I added 3 ounces of glycerin to the 3 gallons. Although it helped the bitterness and smoothed it out a little it is still weak on flavor. Is there anything I can do to get more peach flavor? I put the vent plug back in and will wait longer, but I don’t think that will help the weak flavor. Do y’all have any other ideas?

 

[Jovimaple]

Maybe try a peach flavorpack? Look at the "Tweaking cheap kits" thread for info on flavorpacks.

You can also buy flavorings to add.

4 lbs of fruit for 3 gallons won't give very much flavor. I made a pure peach with just peach nectar, without any water, and I got just over 3 gallons from 36 lbs of peaches.

Edited to add that for my mixed berry DB, I use 12 lbs of berries for 6 gallons. I think those berries have a stronger flavor than peaches do.

 

[Billdean]

Maybe try a peach flavorpack? Look at the "Tweaking cheap kits" thread for info on flavorpacks.

You can also buy flavorings to add.

4 lbs of fruit for 3 gallons won't give very much flavor. I made a pure peach with just peach nectar, without any water, and I got just over 3 gallons from 36 lbs of peaches.

Edited to add that for my mixed berry DB, I use 12 lbs of berries for 6 gallons. I think those berries have a stronger flavor than peaches do.

Hi @Jovimaple. I had considered a peach flavor pack but was afraid that it would make my wine too sweet at this point. It certainly could use some more flavor but not much more sweetness. I have ordered some peach flavored extract from Olive Nation and will bench test a little bit of it. If I had it to do over again I would have added a lot more peaches and a flavor pack.

 

[CheerfulHeart]

Looking for opinions.

If I needed about two 750 ml bottles to top off a six gallon carboy of petite Syrah and I used DB, would that change the wine in a drastic way?

FWIW I topped a batch with an inexpensive Cab Merlot blend and it worked well.

 

[wineview]

I’m not sure I would use DB to top off PS. Buy something inexpensive closer to the style.

 

[Billdean]

I made some more dragon blood on 6/18/23. I used 12 pounds of Wymans 3 berry mix for 6 gallons of wine. The wine tastes pretty good right now and has cleared up. Thats the problem. I usually like sweet wines. At almost 2 months, this wine tastes sweet to me now. Either my taste is changing or my wine requires more time, but I thought DB was an early drinker. So I am a little confused as to what to do? Give it more time and see if it needs some sugar then or bottle it as is. Anyone find that DB does not require any sugar?

 

[Jovimaple]

I made some more dragon blood on 6/18/23. I used 12 pounds of Wymans 3 berry mix for 6 gallons of wine. The wine tastes pretty good right now and has cleared up. Thats the problem. I usually like sweet wines. At almost 2 months, this wine tastes sweet to me now. Either my taste is changing or my wine requires more time, but I thought DB was an early drinker. So I am a little confused as to what to do? Give it more time and see if it needs some sugar then or bottle it as is. Anyone find that DB does not require any sugar?

What were the original and final specific gravity numbers?

 

[Billdean]

@Jovimaple SG at start 1.090 PH 3.20. Final SG .990 PH 3.14

 

[wineview]

.990. Your wine is done.

 

[Billdean]

.990. Your wine is done.

I realize it is done by the numbers, but that was not the question.

 

[Jovimaple]

I have noticed DB gets smoother with time. But it is drinkable right away, although I have always backsweetened.

If you like it, drink it! It's your wine. You could also bottle half and let the rest age longer if you have appropriately sized containers. If it were me, I would probably bench test with some backsweetening, but if I liked the unsweetened version the best, then that's what I would bottle and drink!

You can always add sweetener by the glass if you find later that it needs more.

 

[Billdean]

It was just surprising that it seemed to taste so good with no added sugar. I have always backsweetened it also, but this was the first time with all the extra fruit. I do have a few 3 gallon container. I like your idea of bench testing it. I will try that first!

 

[user 52751]

I am curious and I can't go through 286 pages of comments to find an answer. I am getting ready to brew my first batch of Dragon Blood. In Step 5 once the wine is clear, the first instruction is to rack off one gallon of wine and set aside. Set aside for what? I don't see it used later. I do see that you use it to top off the carboy. Is that what it is for?