Dragon Blood: Triple Berry Skeeter Pee

[mrtree]

I picked up some lemon juice for this over the weekend. I notice it contains preservatives. Will this become a problem with fermentation? I have always tried to stay away from these when selecting juice.

Thanks

Any thoughts on the lemon juice ingredients?

What brand of lemon juice have people used? Should I be looking for 100% lemon juice with no additives?

Looking forward to getting this thing rolling!

 

[cohenhouse77]

Any thoughts on the lemon juice ingredients?

What brand of lemon juice have people used? Should I be looking for 100% lemon juice with no additives?

Looking forward to getting this thing rolling!

The lemon I use is per recipe. It is the Real Lemon with Sodium Bisulfite and Sodium Benzoate. The directions on the site say to add the lemon and give it a good stir over several days to dissipate the preservatives. I whip to add oxygen and release preservatives at the same time right before pitching.

 

[mikeslag]

You shouldn't have had any K-Meta or sorbate in it at that point. Did you add these to the initial ferment?

Yes, of course you're right. I shouldn't have put that in. I added those doing step 4.

 

[mikeslag]

As an update if anyone cares I took a sniff inside today and it smells wonderful with no further stink of fire and brimstone.

 

[cohenhouse77]

That is great. I care!

 

[suecasa]

Finished the batch. Sediment settled with a bit more time. Bottled last night. Valentines gifts today. Needless to say our friends love us

 

[Gedanken]

I bottled my quad berry dragon blood tonight. Thanks for all the help from the forum. This was the second wine I've made but the first to make it to bottles. I fought with the twin lever corker a bit but in the end I won. I love the color and flavor of this.

View attachment 7016

Those bottles on the left are unique. Where did you get them?

 

[JetJockey]

DB Newbie Questions

I've followed Danger Dave's recipe to the tee. I had to add 22 cups of sugar to get the SG up to 1.074 @ 82F or 1.077 corrected. It was only 1.070 @ 82F with 20 cups of sugar. I may have more water than the recipe in my 7.9 liter primary.

I used the sanitize my hands and squeezed the nylon bag as hard as I could every day. The brew belt placed at the very top maintained the temp at 80-82F in the 72F house. This should be OK with the EC-118 yeast since it can handle up to 86F.

I also used a drill stir everyday to oxygenate and degas. I had to be very careful since I only had 1/2 - 3/4" to the top of the primary.

I let it ferment in the primary for 8 days until the SG dropped to 0.996 corrected. I took the fruit bag out and let it sit for two more days without the brew belt. After the 10 days total, the final SG end up at 0.991. I should end up with the ABV being 11.61%. I then splash racked it off the lees to a 6-gal glass carboy with the All-in one-wine pump. What an awesome piece of equipment! I love the AIOWP!!!

I had put the K-Meta and K-Sorbate in a 6-gal glass carboy and racked out of the primary into this carboy to ensure mixing. To degas thoroughly, I splash racked the wine from the secondary glass carboy to another glass carboy and then back to the original. I did a 'Puff' test and it still had a big puff, so I racked half back to a glass carboy and used the drill stir to vigorously degas each 1/2 filled carboy. I still got A LOT of CO2 out by stirring each 1/2 carboy for at least 6-8 minutes. I then finished splash racking the remaining half to make a full glass carboy, almost 6.5 gallons. Again, I can't say enough how easy it is to transfer and rack with the AIOWP! (I wouldn't have degassed as thoroughly if I had to stir and gravity rack!) I then added the Sparkolloid and let clear 8 days.

Now my questions: 1) When I rack the cleared wine out of the secondary of the fine sediment/lees, should I rack it into a clean/sterilized carboy with the 4-5 cups of sugar in it to help dissolve the sugar OR should I prepare a syrup by dissolving the 4-5 cups of sugar in near boiling water and placing the cooled syrup in the receiving carboy?

2) Can I filter and then bottle after the sugar is dissolved by either method above OR do I let the back-sweetened wine sit and clear before filtering/bottling? If it should sit, how long before filtering bottling?

3) I have seen some AWESOME DB labels by Danger Dave, Frenzy92, Cohenhouse77, PrincessVitah, and Pumpkinman, and others. I have Photoshop, Word, etc. What software do you all use to design your labels?

4) What label stock/labels do you use that look so nice, print well with inkjet printer, and can be removed easily for the next batch?

THANK YOU to Dave and all of you for making my first non-kit batch a lot of fun!!! ( My only other experience is a Wine Expert White Merlot kit waiting to be filtered/bottled). I am waiting to filter and bottle both batches at the same time using the whole house filter and AIOWP.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[frenzy92]

We use Microsoft Publisher to design the labels. And honestly, we are kinda cheap and just use Avery mailing labels. We have started purchasing some different label sheets to try out, so I'll try to remember to post a picture when we try those out. Our local Staples store stocks some laser printer specialty wine label sheets, but we just used them with our ink jet printer and they still worked well.

 

[ttimmer]

1) I prefer backsweetening with a simple syrup. Put some in, taste, add more, taste... when you are happy - check the final SG so you can duplicate the sweetness next time.

2) Let it sit and clear. A couple days, plus -- mine really varies.

3) I design my labels on Photoshop

4) I buy my vinyl water resistant ink jet labels at labelsbythesheet.com 6 labels per sheet.

 

[Tripplett]

Those bottles on the left are unique. Where did you get them?

I was waiting for someone to comment on that. I found them at Trader Joe's and thought they would make some unique gift bottles. They were about $5 and the wine in them is pretty good to boot. I'll attach a pic of the original bottle and label.

 

[dangerdave]

Just gotta say I'm glad everyone's DB is turning out great! Drink up!

I am going to have to try a batch with OJ instead of lemon. I've made an orange/lemon that turned out very nice. Great ideas on variations!

 

[dangerdave]

In my eternal search to improve the DB recipe, I give you my current endeavor: Dragon Blood Especial!

This batch was made using the original DB recipe, with a common twist. The variation included a pound of raisins in the mesh bag with the fruit, and six medium size bananas in a separate mesh bag. The result was a DB with much more body, and that same lovely red color. At this point in it's life, the DB usually presents as a tart young wine with hope---that it will improve in the bottle. This version had none of that. Even though I had just racked and sweetened, it presented a very surprising suppleness: smooth and silky on the tongue. The acidity (lemonocity?) showed as a noticable hint in the background, not the bold in-your-face tartness to which I was accustomed. The mix of berries had developed a nice complexity, lingering on the pallet. The taste was balanced and delightful, approaching "elegant".

I also changed the yeast I normally use: from Lavin EC-1118 to Red Star Montrachet.

I know! I am very happily surprised myself! My wife, Johnna, said, "Make it this way from now on!" Since the cost addition is minimal, I may very well do that. Any of you who frequently make DB should try this varition for yourselves. At the grocery store, you can get a one pound box of raisins and some bananas for the modest sum of 3-4 dollars.

Ready to bottle, Dragon Blood Especial!

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Nice to hear you like the Banana edition, I told you, you would be happy with it. Next time add fruit when your brew get's between 1.020 - 1.030. Try some medium french toast in the primary in the beginning and then some un-toasted oak powder at around 1.030. You will be blown away.. Cheers!

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Try Cotes du blanc or D-47, these yeast are made for this type of wine. Cheers

 

[dangerdave]

Nice to hear you like the Banana edition, I told you, you would be happy with it. Next time add fruit when your brew get's between 1.020 - 1.030. Try some medium french toast in the primary in the beginning and then some un-toasted oak powder at around 1.030. You will be blown away.. Cheers!

I knew you would be along to tell me, "I told you so!", and you were quite right, Shawn. Thank you.

Now, are you suggesting leaving the fruit out completely until the wine gets to 1.020 or so, or are you saying add more fruit at that point?

I need to get me some wood! I don't have any oak in the Lab. Pathetic, I know! My lovely wife scoffs at dry oaked reds , so getting some woodiness past her might be a trick. I racked my Rosso Fortissimo last night and I couldn't even get her to taste it!

 

[PrincessVintah]

Mr. Wonderful has really enjoyed my Dragon's Blood wine. Let's just say I've made a believer out of him. He's already ready to make another batch. I'm thinking of trying a cherry/lime version. Do you think it would work if I used the same amounts of fruit and citrus juice if I substitute cherries for the triple berry blend and lime juice for the lemon? I'm also intetested in doing a peach wine, as well.

 

[dangerdave]

I thought someone had made a cherry lime, maybe Pumpkinman (Tom).

Ah, it was Derek (DirtyDog10)! Here is his version, check it out: http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f68/cherry-lemon-lime-dragons-blood-34696/

 

[ShawnDTurner]

In addition,once the S.G. is between 1.020 and 1.030, I use french medium Toast chips in the primary. The amount oak you will add will only enhance, Not enough to make the dreaded OAK Monster appear. You will be adding complexity through layering. I feel a I TOLD YOU so on the way! LOL Cheers

 

[dangerdave]

Oak, searching for oak now...




...you told me so...