Dragon Blood in 15 days!!!

[dangerdave]

I am still astonished with this success! In my Bentonite Study, I made a batch of my Dragon Blood Wine (triple berry skeeter pee) that I bottled 15 days after starting the must. I still can't believe it! I'm drinking some right now!

My lovely wife thinks it might be better than my previous batches. Has anyone else been able to make a clear, delicious wine in two weeks?

Pictures below...

 

[Hokapsig]

Mine is still percolating downstairs in the winery. Even though in fermenatation, can I still add bentonite at this late time?

 

[Arne]

Mine is still percolating downstairs in the winery. Even though in fermenatation, can I still add bentonite at this late time?

I believe you can add it either pre fermentation or post fermentation. Seems like I have read you do not want to add it during fermentation. I do not know why, but think I have read this. Arne.

 

[saramc]

I am still astonished with this success! In my Bentonite Study, I made a batch of my Dragon Blood Wine (triple berry skeeter pee) that I bottled 15 days after starting the must. I still can't believe it! I'm drinking some right now!

My lovely wife thinks it might be better than my previous batches. Has anyone else been able to make a clear, delicious wine in two weeks?

Pictures below...

You may have set a new record for Skeeter Pee turn around time. Out of curiosity, did you follow the recipe exactly or deviate in some way? Did you happen to use slurry only (what yeast was established in your slurry) or what yeast did you pitch? What was your starting SG? Did you have to filter this? WOW. My last batch of SkeeterPee was finished and crystal clear in 32 days, and I did not use Sparkalloid, and I was jumping with joy. But 15 days. Yikes.

 

[dangerdave]

You may have set a new record for Skeeter Pee turn around time. Out of curiosity, did you follow the recipe exactly or deviate in some way? Did you happen to use slurry only (what yeast was established in your slurry) or what yeast did you pitch? What was your starting SG? Did you have to filter this? WOW. My last batch of SkeeterPee was finished and crystal clear in 32 days, and I did not use Sparkalloid, and I was jumping with joy. But 15 days. Yikes.

I used my own personal recipe, a modified, simpler version of Lon's original skeeter pee recipe. I call the wine Dragon Blood. Here's the recipe. The only variation was the addition of bentonite to the primary before pitching the yeast.
__________________________________________________________
"DRAGON BLOOD"

FROM DANGERDAVE'S EASY PEESY (SKEETER PEE) RECIPE

Ingredients: For a six gallon batch:

Step 1: To a cleaned and sanitized seven gallon primary, add---in this order:
2 bottles (48 oz each) 100% Lemon Juice (ReaLemon in the green bottle): if you want to recude the acid level use one bottle.
Water to about five gallons
20 cups of white granulated sugar (looking for a SG btw 1.085-1.09 after filling to 6 gallons*): use less sugar for lower final ABV. Stir sugar until completely desolved.
1 tsp. tannin (stir)
4 tsp. yeast nutrient (stir)
2 tsp. yeast energizer (stir)
3 tsp. pectic enzyme (stir)
Top water to six (6) gallons* (looking for a SG btw 1.085-1.09) and stir well
6 lbs. of Triple Berry Blend (raspberry/blackberry/blueberry--available in most grocery store freezer sections), frozen then thawed, in a nylon fine mesh bag (tied shut), placed in primary: Give the bag a couple of squeezes to work in pectic enzyme. May also toss fruit directly into primary, but this makes for a "messier" fermentation and subsequently will require more clearing time and racking.
Cover primary
Place brew belt: Keep temp in 70F-80F range.
Let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours...

Step 2: To the primary fermenter, add:
1 packet of EC-1118 Yeast (starter, per yeast directions): Sprinkle yeast into one cup of warm water (100F), let sit for 15 minutes (no longer), stir and add to primary. Other yeast strains may also work well.
Stir Primary Vigorously!

Step 3: Each day, do the following, in this order:
Check temp
Check specific gravity
Squeeze juices from fruit pack into fermenter---remove friut pack: Temporarily place in sanitized bucket.
Stir primary vigorously: To introduce oxygen into must.
Replace fruit pack
Cover primary

Step 4: When specific gravity (SG) reaches <1.000, do the following:
Squeeze juices from fruit pack into fermenter---remove friut pack: Discard fruit.
Rack to cleaned and sanitized six gallon carboy
Add 1/4 tsp. Potassium Metabisulfite (stir)
Add 3 tsp. Potassium Sorbate (stir)
Degas very thoroughly: I cannot emphasize this enough!
Add Sparkolloid* (or other cleaing agent): *1 tbs in one cup of water simmered for about 30 minutes. Add hot mixture to carboy.
Allow to clear undistrubed for no less than 1 week

Step 4: When wine is clear:
Carefully rack off of lees into cleaned & sanitized six gallon carboy
Add 4-5 cups of white granulated sugar (stir until sugar is completely disolved): Add more or less sugar to taste. Remember! The sugars will blend with the berry flavors over time, and the sweetness will come forward. Do not over-sweeten!
Allow wine to clear free of all sediment: This may or may not require more racking over the next few weeks.

Step 5: When wine is completely clear:
Bottle in clear bottles
Note: Never bottle cloudy wine! NEVER!
__________________________________________________________

Starting SG was right at 1.085. Yeast was EC-1118---no slurry. I did not filter.

Yikes is right! I still can't believe it. I have two more batches going just to see if this was a miracle (Well, Jesus made wine, lots of it, and very quickly, too!)

 

[g8keeper]

I used my own personal recipe, a modified, simpler version of Lon's original skeeter pee recipe. I call the wine Dragon Blood. Here's the recipe. The only variation was the addition of bentonite to the primary before pitching the yeast.
__________________________________________________________
"DRAGON BLOOD"

FROM DANGERDAVE'S EASY PEESY (SKEETER PEE) RECIPE

Ingredients: For a six gallon batch:

Step 1: To a cleaned and sanitized seven gallon primary, add---in this order:
2 bottles (48 oz each) 100% Lemon Juice (ReaLemon in the green bottle): if you want to recude the acid level use one bottle.
Water to about five gallons
20 cups of white granulated sugar (looking for a SG btw 1.085-1.09): use less sugar for lower final ABV. Stir sugar until completely desolved.
1 tsp. tannin (stir)
4 tsp. yeast nutrient (stir)
2 tsp. yeast energizer (stir)
3 tsp. pectic enzyme (stir)
6 lbs. of Triple Berry Blend (raspberry/blackberry/blueberry--available in most grocery store freezer sections), frozen then thawed, in a nylon fine mesh bag (tied shut), placed in primary: Give the bag a couple of squeezes to work in pectic enzyme. May also toss fruit directly into primary, but this makes for a "messier" fermentation and subsequently will require more clearing time and racking.
Top water to six gallons
Cover primary
Place brew belt: Keep temp in 70F-80F range.
Let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours...

Step 2: To the primary fermenter, add:
1 packet of EC-1118 Yeast (starter, per yeast directions): Sprinkle yeast into one cup of warm water (100F), let sit for 15 minutes (no longer), stir and add to primary. Other yeast strains may also work well.
Stir Primary Vigorously!

Step 3: Each day, do the following, in this order:
Check temp
Check specific gravity
Squeeze juices from fruit pack into fermenter---remove friut pack: Temporarily place in sanitized bucket.
Stir primary vigorously: To introduce oxygen into must.
Replace fruit pack
Cover primary

Step 4: When specific gravity (SG) reaches <1.000, do the following:
Squeeze juices from fruit pack into fermenter---remove friut pack: Discard fruit.
Rack to cleaned and sanitized six gallon carboy
Degas very thoroughly: I cannot emphasize this enough!
Add 1 tsp. Potassium Metabisulfite (stir)
Add 3 tsp. Potassium Sorbate (stir)
Add Sparkolloid* (or other cleaing agent): *1 tbs in one cup of water simmered for about 30 minutes. Add hot mixture to carboy.
Allow to clear undistrubed for no less than 1 week

Step 4: When wine is clear:
Carefully rack off of lees into cleaned & sanitized six gallon carboy
Add 4-5 cups of white granulated sugar (stir until sugar is completely disolved): Add more or less sugar to taste. Remember! The sugars will blend with the berry flavors over time, and the sweetness will come forward. Do not over-sweeten!
Allow wine to clear free of all sediment: This may or may not require more racking over the next few weeks.

Step 5: When wine is completely clear:
Bottle in clear bottles
Note: Never bottle cloudy wine! NEVER!
__________________________________________________________

Starting SG was right at 1.085. Yeast was EC-1118---no slurry. I did not filter.

Yikes is right! I still can't believe it. I have two more batches going just to see if this was a miracle (Well, Jesus made wine, lots of it, and very quickly, too!)

i'll admit, i wasn't too enthused with my first attempt at making a skeeter pee, which was made cutting back on the lemon juice some, and adding a mixture of frozen mixed berries and peaches....was definitely thin and a little light on, flavor, but i am thinking i might have to try it again dave using your variation....maybe also though at the end, adding some form of frozen concentrate, such as old orchard berry blend for a little more back flavoring....

 

[dangerdave]

I'm telling you, Ken, this stuff is really good! The berry flavor is excellent! I have had wines like strawberry and peach, which disappointed me in their flavors (I ended up adding extracts for more flavor), but not this one. I use the Wyman's Frozen Triple Berry Blend I get from either Walmart or Sam's Club. Try just one batch per the recipe, and taste it at clearing, before ever adding any back sweetening. You might even be able to parse it down to a one gallon batch just for testing.

I know it sounds corny, but everyone should try a batch of this wine! I think I'm up to eight or nine batches of this, and they have all been great at bottling time. It also improves in the bottle! <although I'm yet to get any to last more than a few months in my house>

 

[g8keeper]

I'm telling you, Ken, this stuff is really good! The berry flavor is excellent! I have had wines like strawberry and peach, which disappointed me in their flavors (I ended up adding extracts for more flavor), but not this one. I use the Wyman's Frozen Triple Berry Blend I get from either Walmart or Sam's Club. Try just one batch per the recipe, and taste it at clearing, before ever adding any back sweetening. You might even be able to parse it down to a one gallon batch just for testing.

I know it sounds corny, but everyone should try a batch of this wine! I think I'm up to eight or nine batches of this, and they have all been great at bottling time. It also improves in the bottle! <although I'm yet to get any to last more than a few months in my house>

1 gallon batch???...lol....are you kidding me???....roflmao....i think in all my time of wine making, i've only made a 1 gallon batch of something 1 time....lol...and that was an experimental batch of iced tea wine i made years ago from instant iced tea mix....funny thing with that one though....lol....i had let it sit for a long time, had added clearing agents and everything....it had never totally cleared....and this was when i was also told that a wine will not clear in the bottle....mind you, this was when i was first starting out...so like i said, i had let it sit for a long time and it never totally cleared, so i went ahead and bottled it anyways thinking it was as good as it was gonna get...believe it or not, those 5 bottles i got out of that gallon actually did clear while in the bottle....lol...had to be careful when pouring it as to not disturb the sediment...it was ok....nothing to write home about....turned out kinda like a relatively indistinguishable light bodied white wine....but anywho, 1 gallon batches just seem like a waste of time and energy....lol...i just might have to try your recipe though, dave, but only using 1 48 oz bottle of lemon juice as i do suffer with acid reflux....

 

[g8keeper]

i'm thinking i might have to try another bottle of my peach berry pee though....i cracked one open shortly after it had been bottled....been in bottles for a couple of months now....who knows, maybe it has improved a bit with a lil age...

 

[dangerdave]

LOL! Yea, me, too. I don't make one gallon batches, either. We have a couple of folks here who use nothing but one gallon carboys. I'm not one of them. I'd rather swim than wade.

I've got acid reflux, too. Take medicine for it every day. I'm down to one bottle of lemon juice in mine, now. It still comes out great (better, I think). It does not bother my stomache at all.

Let us know how the "aged" peach berry is!

 

[g8keeper]

LOL! Yea, me, too. I don't make one gallon batches, either. We have a couple of folks here who use nothing but one gallon carboys. I'm not one of them. I'd rather swim than wade.

I've got acid reflux, too. Take medicine for it every day. I'm down to one bottle of lemon juice in mine, now. It still comes out great (better, I think). It does not bother my stomache at all.

Let us know how the "aged" peach berry is!

thanks for the info dave....knowing that it is turning out nicely even with only using the one bottle of lemon juice is encouraging....and yeah, i pop tums like they r going out of style it seems like at times, as well as taking an o.t.c. zantac knock off twice a day as well....will definitely let you know how my first batch is doing now that it has been sitting....i'm sure it is definitely past the bottle shock state by now, but it should have been when i tried the first bottle as well...but with the talk on some of the other threads, it is possible now that it has been sitting, a lil more of the sweetness from backsweetening may have finally brought some of the fruitiness front forwards...i know i brought it back up to around the sweetness level i prefer but maybe now the flavors may have "married" a little more...i do have to admit upon first tasting it definitely seemed like it would make a nice base for a nice sangria....that is something we intend to do this summer for one of our family get togethers...

 

[southlake333]

I am still astonished with this success! In my Bentonite Study, I made a batch of my Dragon Blood Wine (triple berry skeeter pee) that I bottled 15 days after starting the must. I still can't believe it! I'm drinking some right now!

My lovely wife thinks it might be better than my previous batches. Has anyone else been able to make a clear, delicious wine in two weeks?

Pictures below...

That is great news! I started a batch of this a week ago (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry). Just transferred to secondary and removed the fruit with an SG of 1.01 as I had some free time today. Hopefully it'll get down below 1 in the next few days, then i'll just mix in the rest and wait for clearing. I too added bentonite originally so based on your thread, I should clear really fast after adding sparkolloid.

Its pretty bitter right now but its mostly the yeasty flavor on top of lemon (as I used the full lemon juice amount). But the smell is amazing. I bet this is gonna be great!

 

[Midwest Vintner]

A strawberry and peach wine require LOTS of fruit. It seems most recipes I have seen, don't put enough in. Any fruit that is more natural water will require more lb/gal.

 

[Hokapsig]

Dave, I'm calling "Shenanigans" on the 15 days . It's been 3 weeks and my Dragon Blood is STILL fermenting like a champ as of this morning. When I transfer to the carboy, I will add the bentonite and see if the clearing goes quicker.

 

[saramc]

I think the temperature that Dave maintains 70-80 has a lot to do with the turnaround time on this wine. IMHO

I make the tried and true version, though many times I will toss in 5# of red raspberries in a straining bag (they come out on Day 5)...and I do NOT use any fining agents, and I do not filter....and I most times I am ready to bottle, after stabilizing and one final racking, by day 45.

Dave, I did want to confirm....the sugar amount listed in your recipe is the amount anticipated for the entire recipe? Approx 16 cups for fermentation and 4 cups for back-sweetening? Adjust amount as necessary of course.
Also...your 15 day phenom....was that made using 1 bottle of juice, 32 oz or 48 oz?

I did make a batch using COSTCO's Italian Volcanic Lemon "JUICE" (not labelled as concentrate), used 96oz, and it was very smooth. When I catch it on sale again I will definitely be purchasing several bottles so I can make a few more batches with it---well worth it.

Thanks.

 

[Hokapsig]

Day 15 and my bag of berries is still in, though it did get a bit warmer in the basement, so the fermentation did pick up. That would explain the 15 days. I'll check the SG when I get home on Saturday.

 

[Lkerr918]

Going to store now to buy the fruit and thaw. Thanks for the recipe. Can't wait to try it. Thanks Logan

 

[dangerdave]

Dave, I'm calling "Shenanigans" on the 15 days . It's been 3 weeks and my Dragon Blood is STILL fermenting like a champ as of this morning. When I transfer to the carboy, I will add the bentonite and see if the clearing goes quicker.

That's cool, Hokapsig. I expected more than one proclaming "shenanibans!". Mine ferments dry usually within a week. I have never had a batch of wine ferment for three weeks.

 

[dangerdave]

I think the temperature that Dave maintains 70-80 has a lot to do with the turnaround time on this wine. IMHO

I agree. I use a brew belt on my primaries, as my basement rarely gets above 65F.

Dave, I did want to confirm....the sugar amount listed in your recipe is the amount anticipated for the entire recipe? Approx 16 cups for fermentation and 4 cups for back-sweetening? Adjust amount as necessary of course.

I put 20 cups of sugar in the primary to get the starting SG. Adjust to your desired final ABV. After it clears, I back-sweeten with 4 cups of sugar. That is the way I like it. Others will likely have different tastes.

Also...your 15 day phenom....was that made using 1 bottle of juice, 32 oz or 48 oz?

For this batch, I used one 48 oz bottle of ReaLemon juice, added to the primary up front. I was trying to reduce the acid level a bit. It turned out perfect (for me)!

 

[keena]

That's cool, Hokapsig. I expected more than one proclaming "shenanibans!". Mine ferments dry usually within a week. I have never had a batch of wine ferment for three weeks.

Same here, I've only done 9 wines so far but all have fermented dry in 5 days or less. I'm goin to be very sad when I get my first slow ferment that takes Weeks like that