Dragon Blood: Triple Berry Skeeter Pee

[Xandra]

Nice, Steve

 

[ou8amaus]

after it was clear, I racked it into a carboy containing 3 lbs of the same triple berry blend as in the primary. I thawed the frozen fruit first, then added it and all the assocoated juices to the carboy

Hi Dave, could you clarify, did you add the extra 3lbs after adding sorbate? If extra fruit for flavor and back-sweetening did you reduce amount if sugar you added at end?

Thank you

 

[jamesngalveston]

Billberry, that will work just fine, easy to clean, and accurate. I check mine daily.. One time on a fig, the must temp got up to 95 degrees, i thought it ruined..I put a wet blanket around it and a fan blowing on it. and it made.
The room temp was 78.

 

[beardy]

I have a DB question...
I only have 2 5gallon carboys so I used the DD DB recipe exactly to make 6 gallons to put 3/4 gallon away for back sweetening and so that after racking ill have some for topping.

I have the 3/4 gal in a refrigerator and was wondering if I should be letting it clear some how or if I should just be ok with small fruit particles in the finished product when I back sweeten. I will probably strain for very large pieces of the berries.

And just for clarity (pun intended) I made the must and I took the 3/4 gal just before pitching the yeast. So its the same 1.082 I started with. Plus the nutrient/pectic/tannin.
Should I be concerned about this? I wont be adding any until I've added sorbate and kmeta. It tastes amazing as it is so hopefully it won't affect the taste once blended.

Could I maybe bentonite or sparkelloid to clear it up some? Or just leave it unfined. (Filtering is not a possibility as of now)

Thanks all!!

 

[dangerdave]

Dave,
Thanks for the update! I've been awaiting your report before starting a new batch. I was looking for more berry flavor. A local judge had commented about lack of berry flavor!

Does the oak come through very strong or just a hint? Tried any with just the extra berry kick without oak?

Thanks again for sharing your wealth of DB knowledge!

It gave it only the slightest hint of oak---my wife didn't even notice, and she's not a big oaking fan. The berriness definately took over. I think this is what you're looking for.

Oh, and you are very welcome.

 

[Billberry]

Hey Dave are you waiting to see if the oak comes forward more as it ages in the bottles you stashed or are you going to make another batch using more oak or are you happy with the amount of oaking on this batch?

 

[dangerdave]

I'm happy with it. I think I'll leave it at that.

 

[Winofarmer]

My last 2 batchs of DB I have used 12 lbs. of Triple Berry Blend Fruit in the primary and it gives a great berry flavor but still have a little lemon tartness and is a deep red color....I think it will be my standard recipe!!!

 

[Tess]

Just racked and back sweetened my second batch of DB. Its beautiful because it has set for over two weeks. I tasted it and the taste is great but it almost has this tangy fizzy taste to it. Im hoping it goes away after a couple months in the bottle. Out of all the wines Iv made my family and Friends like the original recipe of DB the best. Is so clear now I'll probably bottle next week. I always use just a little less lemon then the recipe calls for

Iv made a back and Blue (Blackberry Blueberry) version that I thought was gross but after a few months in the bottle its actually pretty great also!!

 

[chrisjw]

Just flavored 3 gallons of cleared skeeter pee with 4 cups of mashed triple berry. Tastes great. I wonder how it compares to Dragon's Blood. Dragon's Blood will be my next.

 

[wineforfun]

Trying a variant of DB. I will keep all posted. I have made almost all of Dave's variations so decided to try one of my own. I am substituting the 1 bottle of lemon juice with lime juice. Also, going with the 71-B yeast. After ferment is done, which should be in the next few days and I get it cleared, backsweetened, etc., I will then add dark chocolate chunks to 1 gal. of it, and let it age on that for awhile. Hoping for a chocolate/berry DB with a different acid type from the traditional lemon. May be a bust, but I am planning on it turning out well.

 

[Tess]

30 bottles of dragons blood done!!! I just love the color

 

[jamesngalveston]

very very nice tess...nice job
what kind of corker are you using. corks look exactly the same in every bottle...
mine will be off just a tad...

 

[jamesngalveston]

and forgot, whats the other carboy to the left, pineapple....

 

[dangerdave]

That's beautiful, Tess! Great job! I wish I could like it twice!

 

[Tess]

Thanks Dave. your the man after all!!!
James its a kit. Its from Cornucopia its the White Peach Sauvignon Blanc. Added about 4 lbs of sugar to the primary to up the ABV.
Probably wont use the whole fruit pack because I heard it very very sweet. Smells like butt right now I hear it gets better. lol. Its my first Cornucopia kit.
Its low in the carboy because its still perking and throwing off C02. When I rack it to the next carboy I will have to top it off but I started it in the bucket.
My family loves the cheap little kits. I make a couple of those then move on to the better stuff that I need to age.

Oh, I used my old hand corker. My floor corker broke so I send it back for replacement

 

[jamesngalveston]

that always gets me, smells like butt, looks like crap, then later on down the road, it looks beautiful and taste wonderful...all bout wine making i guess. I like the fact you used all clear bottles....I keep mine seperate just for my dragon bloods.

 

[Tess]

I use green bottles for my red long agers!! This wont last two months.
I just drank two bottles. Its bottling day after all!! lol
Iv only made two batches of dragons blood and this one is fantastic right out of the carboy!!
Its weird how different and how much better this batch is from my first.
that one needed to age a couple months! this one is fantastic now!! Whats up with that??

 

[JetJockey]

Its weird how different and how much better this batch is from my first.
that one needed to age a couple months! this one is fantastic now!! Whats up with that??

Tess,
Is this the Original recipe? One or two bottles of lemon? What did you do differently between the batches, i.e. same yeast, berry blend, starting SG, fermenting temp, fermenting time, additives, etc.?

 

[CBell]

Tess, I am just racking my second batch of DB from secondary onto some kmeta this evening. Stole a sip, and tasted much better than the last batch.

I think the main difference for me with the second batch: TIME. The first batch I felt rushed to get everything done, rack, clear, stabilize, backsweet, I felt like I was on a time line. Now, with my personal life getting busier and my work life getting busier,and 6 or 7 batches of wine in carboys, I don't have the time to adhere to a quick timeline for all of it. As a result, it's on the extra fruit longer, unintentionally 'bulk aging'