DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[Tnuscan]

Here goes... I'm starting another variation tonight.

Replacing lemon with lime (2 440ml bottles). Fruit is a strawberry, peach, mango blend and I have about 8 lbs. Adding two liters of coconut water (brand O.N.E).

Fingers crossed! I'm going for a light tropical taste.

Sure sounds interesting, keep us posted !!!

 

[swedgin]

My DB is at 0.998 right now, prior to the first racking. The problem is that I'm about to go out of town for a week on Sunday April 17th.


Should i just leave I it on the lees for the next week (thinking no on this one) or should I just rack it before I leave but wait until I get back for the additives like sorbate and Sparkolloid?

Thanks guys.

 

[jumby]

I would rack it and get it under airlock.

 

[swedgin]

I would rack it and get it under airlock.

Should i rack again when I get back, with all of the additives included?

 

[jumby]

Personally I would rack it again and add the sorbate and potassium metabisulfate then.

 

[swedgin]

Thanks for the validation. That's what I'll do.

 

[jumby]

Thanks for the validation. That's what I'll do.

I highly recommend using SuperKleer instead of Sparkolliod. IMHO it clears a lot better then Sparkolloid and is easier to use.

 

[swedgin]

I think Sparkolloid is all they had at my LHBS. I'll look for it though. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Tnuscan]

Here goes... I'm starting another variation tonight.

Replacing lemon with lime (2 440ml bottles). Fruit is a strawberry, peach, mango blend and I have about 8 lbs. Adding two liters of coconut water (brand O.N.E).

Fingers crossed! I'm going for a light tropical taste.

View attachment 28428

How many gallons is this ?

 

[MrsJones]

How many gallons is this ?

Six It could be a bit light on the acid, but I'm hoping not. My mom doesn't love the original recipe so I'm trying to find something that she will.

 

[swedgin]

Ok so I racked off the lees (again, early due to previously mentioned circumstance), the SG is currently 0.992 and I'm sure it's not yet stable. I have not added sorbate or Campden or anything yet, will do that when I get back. My question is, is this an ok level for headspace for the next week until I can rack again properly onto Campden/Sorbate? I know it's not an ideal level in general, but will it be ok for a week? If not, how can I fix it?

My second question is, there still seems to be small fruit bits floating around in there that aren't sinking. Will these go away once I add the Sparkolloid or super kleer or do I need to add more pectin before I leave or something else?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Winenoob66]

I would strongly suggest adding the camden and sorbate now before you leave for a week. Camden tablets will help protect against Oxidation. The first stage of making wine Oxygen is a good thing 2nd stage and beyond Oxygen is not a good thing. 2nd stage you will usually have Co2 escaping so you might be ok with the levels you have now but I would suggest topping it off to cut down on the headspace, but leave it if you must but it is not good practice.

Sorbate will stop the yeast from reproducing there for adding it now when the must has no sugar will let the yeast that are there die off and when you get back you will be able to backsweeten and not have to worry to much about if refermentation will start back up.

 

[swedgin]

What can I top it up with? I have no wine. What else will work?

 

[cintipam]

When in a crunch I have often used regular fruit juice of a variety that you think will blend well with the wine. BUT BUT BUT do NOT add the sorbate as that way the yeast has some time to eat the sugar in the fruitjuice. I would also skip the kmeta or campden til you get back as by then the sugar will be gone and you should be good to proceed.

At this very very early stage you could prob get by with that level for a short time, but I sense you have nothing to rack it down into, thus I think adding juice would be your best bet at this time.

Also don't worry bout the floaties. They will eventually drop and you will rack the wine off of them.

Pam in cinti

 

[swedgin]

I just feel like adding the Campden / sorbate now is a bad idea since I haven't given the wine time to stabilize but I'm still quite new to winemaking so I don't know if it actually IS a bad idea or not.

I'd rather avoid adding juice if I can as I'm curious how the unadulterated finished product will turn out, but I'll add it if I have to. Any suggestions for the standard DB recipe?

Can I add water? Tap or bottled?

Thanks guys!

 

[jumby]

I just feel like adding the Campden / sorbate now is a bad idea since I haven't given the wine time to stabilize but I'm still quite new to winemaking so I don't know if it actually IS a bad idea or not.

I'd rather avoid adding juice if I can as I'm curious how the unadulterated finished product will turn out, but I'll add it if I have to. Any suggestions for the standard DB recipe?

Can I add water? Tap or bottled?

Thanks guys!

If you add tap water you are going to dilute it. You'd be better off picking up a cheap blush or white merlot and topping it off with that.

 

[swedgin]

So I ended up just topping up with a similar preservative free juice.

 

[WineMan00]

So i had dragon blood ferment and cleared in 2 weeks. bulk age for 3 weeks then Back sweetened and bottled a week after that. So it's been 1.5 months and Currently it tastes like kool aid with alcohol.... Does it get better?

 

[MrsJones]

So i had dragon blood ferment and cleared in 2 weeks. bulk age for 3 weeks then Back sweetened and bottled a week after that. So it's been 1.5 months and Currently it tastes like kool aid with alcohol.... Does it get better?

Did you use the original recipe? How much did you back sweeten?

 

[WineMan00]

Yeah I didn't change anything. 4.5 cups in 6 gallons. Went to about 1.006