DangerDave's Dragon Blood Wine

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Well, my Concord Grape is FINALLY cleared and in the bottle. I posted a while back that it was not clearing even after some extra tannins and pectic enzyme and that it had developed some weird white foam so I did end up adding some potassium metabisulfite and re-dosing with SuperKleer. All seems well now and it looks lovely in the bottle! Oh and it tastes lovely as well!

 

[wineforfun]

Val,
What did you use for your concord, grapes? or Welch's concentrate?
Also, did you follow the DB recipe or make your own as you went?

 

[tanddc]

I keep seeing a reference to "original recipe" pop up in here but I can't seem to find a "new recipe".

Can anyone enlighten me on how much lemon juice to use?

We are bottling our first batch Saturday and getting ready to start the next one and we want to cut back on some of the acidic taste. We are also going to use 10 Lbs. of frozen instead of 6.

Tim

 

[calvin]

It is the very first post on this thread. Original recipe refers to Dave's original dragon blood recipe. Not following the original recipe would refer to a tweak or different fruit and so on. I'm sure hundreds of variations have been tried.

 

[tanddc]

I have the "original" recipe. I thought that perhaps there was a "new" recipe that most were using. The main question I have is on the amount of lemon juice to use

 

[RaymondoChin]

Recipe calls for 48oz and you can use any amount below that you want down to none at all. My taste is for 24 oz. I have used that amount in the last two six gallon batches we have made. Straight blackberry and concord grape.
Mark

 

[agsimon]

Did you use Sparklloid?
If so, I noticed I have bottled different wines that looked crystal clear. A month later I could see this whispy stuff floating around.

SuperKleer tends to compact the lees much better, eliiminating a lot of this.

I've noticed this too. I've used Sparkolloid on all my batches except a small handful that I tried SuperKleer on. All the SuperKleer wines came out crystal clear in the bottle after a few months, but about 50% of my Sparkolloid wines have a tiny bit of sediment. This could also be attributed to me being over zealous with my new hobby and not giving things enough time to settle completely out before bottling.

 

[wineforfun]

I have the "original" recipe. I thought that perhaps there was a "new" recipe that most were using. The main question I have is on the amount of lemon juice to use

The "very" original recipe called for 96oz. lemon juice. Due to alot of people commenting how acidic it was, Dave altered the reciped to 48oz.

Give this 2-3 months in the bottle and the acid from the lemon juice really mellows and the fruit flavors start pushing forward.

 

[jumby]

How long after bottling has everyone been waiting before popping the corks? Mine was a lil to raw at bottling for my taste.

 

[willie]

How long after bottling has everyone been waiting before popping the corks? Mine was a lil to raw at bottling for my taste.

We bottle within 2 months some 3 months cause we don't need it right away. But then we are drinking the heck out of it till it's gone.

Will

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

How long after bottling has everyone been waiting before popping the corks? Mine was a lil to raw at bottling for my taste.

I can drink it right away personally but even within 3 weeks the taste smooths out quite a bit.

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Val,
What did you use for your concord, grapes? or Welch's concentrate?
Also, did you follow the DB recipe or make your own as you went?

I used concord grapes...I think that's why it gave me so much trouble clearing. I went by Dave's notes for the recipe which he posted for me on page 233 of this thread (although I think I only had about 16 pounds of fruit).

 

[Ctmaro]

30 bottles of DangerDave's Dragon Blood bottled, labeled and in the cellar. I used a Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry mix. Hope you don't mind Dave but I changed the name of mine to "Bella Rossore". Translated from Italian that means "Beautiful Blush".

Just put up 15 - 1 Liter + 4 750 ml bottles: Strawberry, Blackberry, and Blueberry. Tastes great! More Dragon's Blood!

 

[maurtis]

Mine usually clears and is ready to bottle within 15 days, but is definitely still a little rough. Usually about a month after bottling it is nice and tasty. So for mine, 1.5 months from the beginning of fermentation is when I start to drink and gift it. Mine have never gone more than 3 months since it gets gifted or consumed pretty quickly.

 

[wineforfun]

I used concord grapes...I think that's why it gave me so much trouble clearing. I went by Dave's notes for the recipe which he posted for me on page 233 of this thread (although I think I only had about 16 pounds of fruit).

I gotcha, thanks. I have made almost everyone one of Dave's variations and a few of my own, but had never seen a concord one.

 

[jamesjr]

Im making my first batch of db and took a little taste and I think I found my new favorite wine!

 

[dangerdave]

Great buzz here on the DB thread! You gus/gals are awesome!

I'm back from my vacation, so bottling some DB myself. My newset version called Dragon Lord---strawberry/mango/blueberry/cherry---is sitting there looking at me. Another experiment in flavor combinations. I'll back sweeten and taste it this week.

Trying to get caught up on all these posts!

 

[Ctmaro]

Great buzz here on the DB thread! You gus/gals are awesome!

I'm back from my vacation, so bottling some DB myself. My newset version called Dragon Lord---strawberry/mango/blueberry/cherry---is sitting there looking at me. Another experiment in flavor combinations. I'll back sweeten and taste it this week.

Trying to get caught up on all these posts!

Hope you had a great vacation Dave!

I am just starting straight Raspberry DB today. Mixed up the base yesterday evening, added the berries this morning (had to get them defrosted), and will pitch the yeast tonight.

I am following your original recipe, as you suggested, and will tame the tartness when back sweetening.

Thank you for feedback,

Mark

Currently making:

Festival DB (strawberry, mango, papaya, pineapple)
Lemon Lime SP
Apple wine
Wild Blackberry wine
Blueberry wine
Pineapple wine
Peach wine
Starting Strawberry wine today

 

[calvin]

If you haven't started your strawberry wine yet I would highly recommend Dave's sweet strawberry tart. It is delicious with lots of strawberry flavor.

 

[SwampDog35]

Anyone wanna chime in let me know if I'm on track or not? This is my DB going on its second week after being in the secondary. Suggestions? It appears not to be clearing very well.