Taste

[hounddawg]

Oh really, Dave’s Dragons Blood wine is one of the most talked about forums on here! I think wine most definitely is produced from more than just grape. Hope to get to that though

first joeswine has a refined palate, it is a very hard learning to develop a purest palate like his, it takes talent and much time, that being said i have none of that, country wines are not considered proper wines to the purest, to each their own, I on the other hand have never done a grape wine nore a wine kit, but these people can learn you most anything, to check one thing pour you half a coffee cup of DB, add 1/2 teaspoon stir then taste, if not right add another half teaspoon to your coffee cup, if this dose not dial it in to suit you, well first and foremost,, time is a big help it takes time for a wine to age, another thing you stated was watery , that sounds like more fruit or juice and less water, as for skeeter pee , i like mine very strong, so i start a 6 gallon in a 14 gallon ferment barrel. with 2 real lemon concentrate,and loads of sugar , yeast nutrient, i start my skeeter pess at 1.100 when run almost dry say close to 0.998, then i add 4 more bottles of lemon juice and rack to a carboy and airlock, after clearing i add k-meta and sorbate back sweeten to around 1.040 and bottle, so you will have to decide , if your a sweet, semi-sweet , semi-dry or dry drinker, and proper wines (grape) or country wines, fruits berries anything but grapes, but you must keep notes so you know how much fruit/berries/juices to water, and of course be very specific with your questions, i hope this helps you, oh if you don't use time to clear your wine then get a fining agent like super kleer,,, to clear your wine in under 48 hours,,,
Dawg

 

[Nicola]

first joeswine has a refined palate, it is a very hard learning to develop a purest palate like his, it takes talent and much time, that being said i have none of that, country wines are not considered proper wines to the purest, to each their own, I on the other hand have never done a grape wine nore a wine kit, but these people can learn you most anything, to check one thing pour you half a coffee cup of DB, add 1/2 teaspoon stir then taste, if not right add another half teaspoon to your coffee cup, if this dose not dial it in to suit you, well first and foremost,, time is a big help it takes time for a wine to age, another thing you stated was watery , that sounds like more fruit or juice and less water, as for skeeter pee , i like mine very strong, so i start a 6 gallon in a 14 gallon ferment barrel. with 2 real lemon concentrate,and loads of sugar , yeast nutrient, i start my skeeter pess at 1.100 when run almost dry say close to 0.998, then i add 4 more bottles of lemon juice and rack to a carboy and airlock, after clearing i add k-meta and sorbate back sweeten to around 1.040 and bottle, so you will have to decide , if your a sweet, semi-sweet , semi-dry or dry drinker, and proper wines (grape) or country wines, fruits berries anything but grapes, but you must keep notes so you know how much fruit/berries/juices to water, and of course be very specific with your questions, i hope this helps you, oh if you don't use time to clear your wine then get a fining agent like super kleer,,, to clear your wine in under 48 hours,,,
Dawg

Thanks for the information, I wish I could do a normal wine, cannot get the grapes for it where I live but I am gonna attempt from grape juice concentrate. I have a skeeter pee on the go, started at 1.092 and it’s now sitting at 1.000 gonna give a few more days and I tried the super kleer, well I had to get Alcotec but it cleared amazingly. So see how my skeeter pee goes, I didn’t want to dilute too much when I back sweeten and reduce the alcohol too much, might need to with the skeeter pee as it’s lemons. Yeah I will need to ask more specific questions I appreciate that. Thanks for the advice

 

[hounddawg]

Thanks for the information, I wish I could do a normal wine, cannot get the grapes for it where I live but I am gonna attempt from grape juice concentrate. I have a skeeter pee on the go, started at 1.092 and it’s now sitting at 1.000 gonna give a few more days and I tried the super kleer, well I had to get Alcotec but it cleared amazingly. So see how my skeeter pee goes, I didn’t want to dilute too much when I back sweeten and reduce the alcohol too much, might need to with the skeeter pee as it’s lemons. Yeah I will need to ask more specific questions I appreciate that. Thanks for the advice

when i make my wines i make a gallon or two extra, i keep gallon glass jugs and half gallon jugs the ones with the finger hole in them
i got bungs with airocks to fit them all the way down to clear wine bottles, that gives me the ability to top off with the very wine i am making,
good luck
Dawg

 

[winemanden]

Sorry for the error it's just I don't consider dragons blood a wine either just an off shoot of something else

Just for the record Joe "real winemakers" say that if it's not made from grape juice then it's just not wine! Does it really matter.?

It seems as though Isolation niggles are creeping into the forum.
Anyway Nicola, welcome to the club.
Stay safe everyone.

 

[hounddawg]

Just for the record Joe "real winemakers" say that if it's not made from grape juice then it's just not wine! Does it really matter.?

It seems as though Isolation niggles are creeping into the forum.
Anyway Nicola, welcome to the club.
Stay safe everyone.

aw, as far as that goes the hundreds of gallons that i have made equals ZERO to joeswine, lol, i make my country wines to suit me and only me, as should all of us, with that being said those purest do have helpful information at times,,lol,,, country wines here in the ozark foothills were born of what we have locally, the old times had no phones, no web/net to order things, the way they ordered anything was to offer the local boys a little wine for them to pick and bring fruit an/or berries, myself i am sweet country wines to the bone except for one weakness very old cognac ,,
Dawg

 

[mainshipfred]

Just did a quick little research. An alcoholic beverage fermented from fruit with an ABV of 3-8.5% is considered cider 9-16 is considered wine. FWIW!

 

[hounddawg]

Just did a quick little research. An alcoholic beverage fermented from fruit with an ABV of 3-8.5% is considered cider 9-16 is considered wine. FWIW!

hum, that means i'd have to lower my % to have wine, welp even rocket fuel taste good with enough sugar, i , only drink 1 to 2 glasses at bedtime, instead of med's for sleep,,, i went years with a max of 4 hours of sleep per night,,, the doctors wanted me to take sleeping pills, but when,, 4 of my 5 doctors told me to drink wine and not one of them for sleep,but for the antioxidants , but the side effect was sleep. later they decided my wine glass was to big, 2 glasses is a 750 ml bottle with plenty of room left in my glass, nope i still use my 18 oz stainless steel country wine glass for my high octane sweet country wines, like granny clampett my rumatis medicine ,, lol

 

[JohnT]

Folks,

Here is a shock...

I am an ultra traditionalist...

I know, I know, you needed to sit down after reading that.. (LOL)

I few years back, I hosted a competition that included many country wines. To all those that entered, congratulations, you opened my eyes.

Country wines, IMHO, are just as valid as any other form of wine. I do still believe in ingredients though. Although you CAN make wine out of a can of Welch's, it does not compare with wine made from high quality fruit. Being able to judge quality is what I consider a refined pallet.

All of the above is an expression of MY tastes, which are no more valid than any other persons tastes. So, if you like dragon's blood or skeeter pee, or even skittles wine, you deserve respect if you strive to make the best batches possible.

@Nicola , I believe that this is what you were trying to do. Somehow, this thread turned a bit sour and I hope that you did not get offended.

 

[winemanden]

Quite right! This is me this is my wine!!!

 

[reeflections]

One of my all time favorite quotes is from Duke Ellington. When asked what the best kind of music was, he simply answered, "If it sounds good, it is good." As an amateur musician, I took that to heart. As a professional photographer giving underwater photography lessons, I used a similar expression for judging photos. "if it looks good, it is good." Now, as a retired photographer and beginner wine maker, I will use the same idea: "if it tastes good, it is good."

I'm not concerned with what it's called, but I want to make something my friends and I will enjoy. That's why I am here to learn from y'all. I will listen to your advice whether it comes in abrupt fashion, or way more info than expected. That's how I learned to be a photographer and that's how I will learn to make my fermented drinks. I appreciate all that share what they have learned.