My First Dragon Blood!

[dangerdave]

I back sweetened with sugar. The next one I make, I will try honey. I like honey.

Raisins are always good! Go for it!

 

[Pumpkinman]

i need this one to be ready before my wife finishes the original dragon blood...lol

 

[geek]

my mouth is watery........

 

[Pumpkinman]

geek, its real good and fairly easy to make!

 

[geek]

I tell you my "son" that I will be tasting the DB soon, right Dave?

 

[geek]

Tom, post pictures of the final product.......to make my mouth more watery....

 

[Pumpkinman]

Beware.....it is deceiving....it will knock you on yer arse after a bit...LOL

 

[Pumpkinman]

Dave, The red Dragon is very nice, it is rolling along, fermenting nicely, had to take a taste, very interesting, the honey gives it a whole new level, and the raisins added to it perfectly!

 

[geek]

once done see if you can update the recipe to make sure whether using honey or raisins is better than plain sugar.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Just from what I am tasting at this point, it is hands down, much better.
I was apprehensive about making a mead or melomel as I really don't "love" honey, but the intense honey flavor has been complimented by the berries and raisins.
The biggest problem will be keeping enough on hand!

 

[Pumpkinman]

Red Dragon is at 1.020, we should be at or below 1.000 tomorrow, this tastes great already.

 

[dangerdave]

I told you! I think it's an improvement---albeit, not in price. I'm very interested in the outcome. I think I'll add some rasins to my next batch of standard DB and see how it compares. You guys are great with testing variations on this recipe. I'll have to make a list of the possible variatins and attach it to the recipe thread.

'Likes' for everyone!

 

[dangerdave]

I tell you my "son" that I will be tasting the DB soon, right Dave?

Coming to an office near you!

 

[Pumpkinman]

Dave, the SG is .994 as of this morning...lol..talk about fermenting to dry..lol... I kept "steady" temps between 86°-90°, on the high end of the yeast tolerance, and added 1 tsp yeast nutrient over the course of the first 3 days of fermentation to avoid any nutrient issues that can materialize from fast fermentations.
It still seems like it has a lot of life in it yet, time to unplug the heat mat and let her cool down, then rack, stabilize and back sweeten.
I plan to use a mix of honey and sugar to back sweeten.
Dave, I have to be honest, I never thought that i'd like a fruit wine so much, or I'd ever make a mead/melomel for that matter, I am glad that you were so excited about this, that is what really drove me to try it.
This is going to become one of the wines that i'll have to keep stocked.
as far as price is concerned, the Red Dragon Melomel only cost me an additional $25.00 to use Honey in place of sugar, that is an extra dollar a bottle...no worries.
I friend of mine from the Giant Pumpkin World, has been a bee keeper for 39 years, his honey is the only honey that I can say that I like (now you know why I was apprehensive about mead or melomel, I'm not a big fan of honey), the difference between a great quality honey and the crap that you usually get in stores is amazing. I need to contact him about getting 15-30 lbs of honey, I'm sure it would make a world of difference!

 

[dangerdave]

I cannot put into words how pleased I am that you like it so much, Tom. The first time I made some, I thought, I gotta tell people about this! I'm getting calls from family, asking if I'm giving DB out for Christmas. They don't know how easy they are making my Christmas shopping this year! I make DB almost constantly now. All my peeps love it!

OMG, time to make some more!

 

[geek]

I can even smell it from here Tom....

 

[Pumpkinman]

Dave, thanks, it is really a great product, the fact that it can be made fairly fast. makes it even better!
We brought a few bottles of Dragon Blood to a friends house, they were amazed that I had made it in under a month!
They were disappointed that they didn't know about it sooner, they would have made it as part of their gifts for friends, they are giving a bottle each, of their homemade wine.

Geek, wait until you start making it, the house starts smelling like berries!