DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[bkisel]

Wow! That does look enticing. All that is needed is it be chilled and a hot August day.

 

[Elmer]

Elmer,
What's your suggestion for adding medium toast french oak chips to blueberry DB? How much? Do you soak in water for 1 hour before adding? Can I add it to cleared/back sweetened/finished wine or is it too late? Any advice is appreciated!

I'm a noob when it comes to adding oak!

I am all for try oak as I love oak in almost every thing.
I added 1/4 cup o heavy pasted American oak to a 6 gallon batch, and am still thinking of adding more.

I would test the blueberry with oak. Separate out To a gallon jug and try an amount of oak and let it sit.
I would start with an ounce and increase from there if needed


I do this with a lot if all my wine batches (non kit wines).
This had allowed me to get an idea of wine with and without oak and make for a fun taste testing.

And by all means report back your result!


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[cheesehead]

see if this helps to answer what you think is the best yeast to use

http://winemakermag.com/component/com_yeasts/Itemid,165/view,chart/

with all the citrus though I would stick with the 1118

thank you winenoob66 very informative !!! exactly what i need for future references

 

[Winenoob66]

your welcome

 

[TableSeven]

Bottled last night, looks beautiful, great color! Still no idea the taste, but hubs approved.

 

[corinth]

Dragon Blood

Well Dave, ya got me!
Along with my Welches experiments, I just gotta try your dragon blood wine?

I noticed in your original recipe, you used EC-118.
I also noticed that you mentioned that a "higher temp would give DB sharper tasting and , more colorful wine" and a
lower temp would give it a paler blush and more fruity aroma and smoother taste"Since I will try two different batches , I was wondering
1. what temp you would use the low range and what yeast do you think I should use?
2. what temp would be good for a high range and which yeast would be good?.
4. Lastly, any fruit work better with high temp versus low temp?
I will take all advice to heart!
Thank You
Corinth

 

[corinth]

dragon blood wine

A poem about dragons. the link is below
[I]Dream-Flight
by _SeHT

A falling star catches and holds my gaze,
And as I watch it fall, a shadow covers the moon's bright face,
And as it flies back, re-crossing that celestial grove,
I see two great dragons, conjoined in love.

I watch their joy until I see them no more.
And as I walk home I feel my spirits soar;
I climb the stairs and prepare for bed;
Settling for sleep, I follow where my thoughts are led.

Flapping my wings, I feel myself rise,
As I move through the air, a child of the skies;
I feel my love's gentle presence there by my side,
And I smile, and allow her to be my guide.

Further on we fly, sliding gracefully through the sky,
Over valleys so deep and mountains so high;
Bright stars are above us, beneath lies the earth,
As we fly through the air, our inheritance from birth.

And there in the air we nuzzle and kiss,
And we two become one and we know only bliss
As we glide on together, I hers and she mine;
There is only us; there is no more Time.

And she is beneath me, my mate and my love,
Our necks softly twining in the passion of love;
My seed bursts within her in a joyous gout of flame,
I cry aloud in my love, she calls out my name -

And the dream is over and I am awake,
And I rub my tired eyes and a deep breath I take.
It can never be. But how real it all seems
As we fly, two dragon lovers, so deep in my dreams.[/I]


http://www.draconic.com/poetry/

Corinth

 

[Lornahdune]

Just what is the magic here?

How's it look? My first Dragon Blood almost complete.You see it here cleared a week after sparklloid. I had a small taste with a bit of sugar added and it's wonderful.
Now, the REAL question here. Just what is it, that makes Dragon's Blood and Skeeter Pee process so quickly? As I think of playing around with the recipe, I wonder what part of the process or ingredient is causing the must to ferment so fast, and make very drinkable wine in such a short time as opposed to a grape, mead or other fruit wine? Does anyone know this? Dave way back (I read in a thread somewhere) you said it was science....can you clarify?
-lauren

 

[Rmstuck]

How's it look? My first Dragon Blood almost complete.You see it here cleared a week after sparklloid. I had a small taste with a bit of sugar added and it's wonderful.
Now, the REAL question here. Just what is it, that makes Dragon's Blood and Skeeter Pee process so quickly? As I think of playing around with the recipe, I wonder what part of the process or ingredient is causing the must to ferment so fast, and make very drinkable wine in such a short time as opposed to a grape, mead or other fruit wine? Does anyone know this? Dave way back (I read in a thread somewhere) you said it was science....can you clarify?
-lauren

Do you mind me asking if you doubled the fruit? I made it with 6lbs of fruit and feel like its bland not much flavor at all. Just trying to figure out if I just don't like it , did something wrong or if it just needs time? I tried adding the juices from another 32oz of fruit and it had more flavor at first but then a couple days later it tasted bland again. So now it's just sitting in the carboy and I'm hoping it gets better.

 

[Lornahdune]

Rmstuck, I did the recipe pretty much exactly. I halved it for a 3 gallon - and I did not measure the fruit, but am pretty sure it was the correct amount. I deviated only on this:
no yeast energizer so I skipped it and kept my fingers crossed and I added 1/2 cup of raisins because I had some available and thought it might increase the "mouthfeel" of the finished product.
-l

 

[Rosa321]

Well......I was going to wait until Easter to try another bottle of DB, BUT........The Wino in me just couldn't wait!!!!

I opened a bottle Saturday and it was BETTER!! Much sweeter, less tart, less acidic! I'm hoping it's not a fluke. I opened a big bottle and once I drink it, I'll have to open another one. You know, to test it out and see if it's ALSO good.
Just for science!!!!

 

[Rmstuck]

Well......I was going to wait until Easter to try another bottle of DB, BUT........The Wino in me just couldn't wait!!!!

I opened a bottle Saturday and it was BETTER!! Much sweeter, less tart, less acidic! I'm hoping it's not a fluke. I opened a big bottle and once I drink it, I'll have to open another one. You know, to test it out and see if it's ALSO good.
Just for science!!!!

How long have you aged it?

 

[Rosa321]

About a month and a half or so.
Easter was going to be a little over 2 months.
Hopefully it keeps getting better and better.

My fear is that it was a fluke hahaha Hopefully ALL the bottles are getting better and not just that one.

 

[Dale1978]

Rmstuk - mine turned out sort of the same way - I call mine flat tasting - no body - I added some raisins to it and seems like it brought it to life - I am wondering if I did something wrong or wondering if it is that much different in everyones taste - mine needs some more time but adding the raisins really helped and brought it around - only deviation to Daves recipe is I cut mine to a one gallon batch and used 2 lbs of berries.

 

[Rmstuck]

Dale,

How many raisins did you add? Do you just toss them in the carboy? I'm willing to try anything because I don't want to dump it. Flat is exactly how I would describe it.

 

[Dale1978]

remember I did one gallon - I used 1 small box of golden raisins - it was like 6 small boxes packaged together - if you made a 6 gallon batch - I would recommend probably 1 pound of raisins - just dump in carboy - read some of Joeswine post - thinking outside of the box or when good wines go bad - that is where I got the idea from reading his post and lonestar lori - read them they are very good reads - like I said I was highly disappointed in mine and could not figure where I went wrong - I knew i followed the recipe to the T and did everything right - then I read some other post that people was disappointed in the taste - but the raisins really helped mine - hope it works with yours

 

[wildvines]

Opened a bottle of DB and took a SG. It was 1.000. Very strong. So did a trial and tasted pretty good at 1.010. But guess already to late on this batch since already bottled. It's a shame.


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[bkisel]

BTW here is a - not very good - picture of two bottles of my finished DB. I'm calling it Lemon Berry Wine.

 

[Julie]

Opened a bottle of DB and took a SG. It was 1.000. Very strong. So did a trial and tasted pretty good at 1.010. But guess already to late on this batch since already bottled. It's a shame.


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Carlos, sweeten each bottle as you drink it.

 

[wildvines]

Will do just need to see how many tbsp of simple syrup per bottle to raise it


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