Dragon Blood core meltdown?

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BigDaveK

Supporting Members
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2022
Messages
2,808
Reaction score
5,404
Location
Hocking Hills, OH
I'm still in diapers with this wine making thing and my plan was to casually learn over time. So much for plans...
I started my first SP and my first DB within a week of each other. (SP was first.) The room was upper 60's but can get colder at night so each has a brew pad set to 74. SP progressing very nicely, no issues there. I followed the DB recipe exactly except for using 8# fruit instead of 6#. (They were 4# bags.) This is the beginning of day 4. In 24 hours the temp went from 74 to 79. SG went from 1.07 to 1.052. (Started at 1.078.) and the pH hit 2.7 from an original 3.4! The fermentation is crazy active. Smells fine, tastes good.
For comparison, the older SP has been 74, SG now 1.016, and pH 3.1.
The big change in DB pH really threw me for a loop!

As always, thoughts and/or suggestions are GREATLY appreciated.
 
If you read the DB threads, you'll see they had contests a few years ago to see how fast DB takes from start to bottling, and I believe some folks were down to 15 days. So, yeah, not unusual for DB to move quickly.

It's supposed to be a quick drinker. That being said, I made a batch with double the fruit (Kirkland triple berry - blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry, from Costco), and it has not been my favorite, but I actually like it a lot better now that it has aged 9+ months. Hubby has loved it from day 1, but there was just a harsh flavor note that I think was from the blueberry that bothered me. We opened a bottle last week and it was a lot smoother. It's almost like aging wine makes it better or some such magic. 😂

I started my SP on Monday night and pitched the yeast starter on Tuesday night. Started at 1.093 and is at 1.061 this morning, so 3.5 days of fermentation.
 
Last edited:
If you read the DB threads, you'll see they had contests a few years ago to see how fast DB takes from start to bottling, and I believe some folks were down to 15 days. So, yeah, not unusual for DB to move quickly.

It's supposed to be a quick drinker. That being said, I made a batch with double the fruit (Kirkland triple berry - blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry, from Costco), and it has not been my favorite, but I actually like it a lot better now that it has aged 9+ months. Hubby has loved it from day 1, but there was just a harsh flavor note that I think was from the blueberry that bothered me. We opened a bottle last week and it was a lot smoother. It's almost like aging wine makes it better or some such magic. 😂

I started my SP on Monday night and pitched the yeast starter on Tuesday night. Started at 1.093 and is at 1.061 this morning, so 3.5 days of fermentation.
Thank you for you response! Always greatly appreciated.
Yes, I read the threads. I try to do my homework ahead of time and if I have an issue with something I'll try to find the answer on my own. If I post a question here it's because I haven't found a satisfactory explanation elsewhere. I knew it was going to be a fast ferment, and is probably my fastest so far, but the pH going to 2.7 was totally unexpected. That was a big mystery to me. I've never had anything dip below 3.1 before.
 
I have read that the pH readings can be "off" during fermentation. I never checked the pH of my DB batches - I just followed the recipe and process. It always turned out, so there's that! 😁
 
I have read that the pH readings can be "off" during fermentation. I never checked the pH of my DB batches - I just followed the recipe and process. It always turned out, so there's that! 😁
Good to know!
Still new at this and I'm forcing to do many tasks, maybe too many, to hard wire my brain. If it's not hard wired I have a tendency to fergit.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top