Dragon Blood: Triple Berry Skeeter Pee

[cheesehead]

thanx for the quick reply Dave, i will wait until it clears as always b4 bottling. i degassed it until there was no gas after drill stirring, the recommendation of 1 month came from the store owner. have you ever had a batch that just seemed like it was stuck in the cloudy state? if so , what did you do? I do have about 1" of sediment on the bottom, but that was there 1 hr after the super kleer was added. I will wait for now as i am getting ready for deer hunting this week and next, i'll check it when i get back and report any results. Also, i see you cut back on the yeast energizer to 1 tsp and 3 tsp nutrient, is that a permanent change to your recipe? thanx again, Loddie

 

[dangerdave]

Also, i see you cut back on the yeast energizer to 1 tsp and 3 tsp nutrient, is that a permanent change to your recipe? thanx again, Loddie

Now, I'm running a bit slow, Loddie.

My goal has been to (mostly) use only what is necessary in making my wines the way I do. Lon's original Skeeter Pee recipe calls for two applications of nutrient and energizer (1tsp and 3tsp, respectively), but he also uses three 32oz bottles of Real Lemon juice. When I reduced the lemon juice in the Dragon Blood recipe, I also dropped the second application of nutrient/energizer. I have made many batches since then , and it ferments with gusto! I currently use just one bottle of juice in the primary and no more. That is the way I like it.

 

[spree]

I'm getting ready to make this. I'm curious. How long did you let it age in the bottle before drinking (if any)?

 

[DirtyDawg10]

You don't have to let it age at all however it does get better the longer it is in the bottle.

 

[spree]

You don't have to let it age at all however it does get better the longer it is in the bottle.

Excellent!

 

[Dend78]

Dragons Blood is what gets you through those long aging wines

 

[vernsgal]

I'm having trouble getting the ferment going. It's been 48 hours since I pitched the yeast and there has been no action. Temp is a steady 77 F. When I added the yeast I didn't have any yeast energizer ( none of the wine suppliers here have even heard of it) I have since gotten my hands on some. Should I add it now?, make a starter?, do both???...

 

[vernsgal]

okay, jumped the gun on that. Got up this morning and it is doing its thing

 

[cohenhouse77]

Dave, I know you said on either this thread or one of it's sister thread that you only had 1 bottle of lemon now. Is that 1 bottle of lemon total, or do you still at the second bottle halfway through fermentation?

 

[cheesehead]

hi Cohenhouse77, if i'm not mistaken, its your preference as to 1 or 2 bottles total at the beginning of the process, some have cut back on the lemon juice due to acicity / reflux issues. again a personal preference, hope this helps

 

[dangerdave]

Dave, I know you said on either this thread or one of it's sister thread that you only had 1 bottle of lemon now. Is that 1 bottle of lemon total, or do you still at the second bottle halfway through fermentation?

Been busy this holiday season! But I'm back home and mking more wine!

As cheesehead said, I add only one bottle (48oz) in the primary fermenter at the beginning and no more later. That's how we like it at my house.

 

[Throwback]

Hello Everybody!

Well this my first time posting usually I'm just reading postings to gather as much information to try to understand the whole wine process making.

I came across dragon blood receipe from (dangerdave) looks awesome had to try it. While I followed the directions to a Tee. Once everything was mixed in fermenationg bucket (Start Gravity 1.090) and racked when S.G. 0.996. So last night I added 1/4 tsp Potassium Metabisulfite (stir for good 30 minutes by hand, used vaccum pump also to try to degass) then added 3 tsp. Potassium Sorbate (stir again by hand and used vaccum pump). total time spent trying to degas the dragon blood 2 hrs but did not add any fining agent do to know it was not fully degassed. This morning the airlock was bubbling in the glass carboy. So I'm not sure if its still fermenating or degassing on it own.

I've added two pictures to show what happening.


Any guidance/information/knowledge would be greatful.


Started this project 11-26-12 racked 12-2-12.

 

[cheesehead]

Throwback, from what i can tell you, it took me 1-1/2 hours with a drill mounted stir wand and i'll bet i still didnt degass 100% but very close, looks like you may have a bit more degassing to do as evident of the amount of foam present in the carboy. question for ya, is that must in the airlock intentional or has it risen up through the airlock? i either use plain h20 or h2o with a little sanitizing solution in mine so as to not breed any bacteria. As for my first batch of dragonsblood, i am still allowing it to clear, started mine 10-26ish (i'm at work and dont have the date in front of me), added k-meta & sorbate after drill stirring 98% of the gas out of the must, then added super kleer fining agent, i did have a bit of gas releasing thru the airlock but stopped within hours- ive racked 2x since to draw off the lees from the sediment ,as i want absolutley clear wine to bottle , i still need to back sweeten ,clear, then bottle, it actually appears that you have some fermentation going on if its perculating that much. give it a day or 2 to see if it ceases other wise i'd get to degassing some more and then add fining agents( most swear by 100% degas & others not so much), hope that helps, if not there some pretty experienced fellas ( and ladies) that wouldnt hesitate to put me in my place if i'm wrong. good luck!

 

[Putterrr]

CHEESEHEAD
not an answer to the problem asked but to you wondering about the wine in the airlock. It is probably from foam being pushed into the bubbler and settling back to wine. The fact that there is nothing in the other side would indicate that the big push up has settled back a bit. Some refer to this as a volcano and it can cause quite a mess as the foam makes bubbles out the top of the airlock. The bubbles break and small amounts of wine splatter everywhere. One way to lesson the mess is to put the carboy in a big sink or container and put a small container upside down over the airlock. That way the wine splatter will just fall straight down and doesn't coat everything in a 5 ft radius. much easier to clean up. Of course, not getting into this situation in the first place is the best solution
cheers

 

[Throwback]

Cheesehead,

Thanks for replying back good insight you given, I did some more degassing last night, and will continue to degass tonight again. Too answer your question about the airlock and if its must. I had orginally put clean H2O with little sanitizing solution in the airlock the night before and that is what I had woken up too yesterday morning. I had replaced the airlock with fresh clean H2O with sanitizing solution.

So far this morning its still clean the airlock and perculating still, but not as much as the night before.

I will continue with degassing again later today when I get home from work. Good to know other have spent a good amount of time degassing wine.

I will keep you guys updated.

 

[dangerdave]

Throwback, looks like you have secondary fermentation going on. I have never seen gas alone produce that much active bubbling. I would let it sit for a few more days undisturbed. Keep the air lock clean if any wine gets into it from the foam. Wait for it to settle down, or you are wasting your time with your degassing. Give it three days with a stable SG, then proceed.

Don't sweat it! It's going to be awesome!

 

[PrincessVintah]

Dangerdave, please help. Is there an alternative yeast you could recommend instead of the EC-1118? My local HBS doesn't have that one. Also, I'm looking to start a batch of this lovely creation this week, but it's December in Utah and a bit chilly. My house is usually around 67 degrees and I don't have a brew belt. Any ideas what I can do to keep her warm? Would a heat lamp work?

Any help is appreciated! Mwah!

 

[dangerdave]

I have used several different yeast varieties, but the Red Star Premiere Cuvee is a good alternative to the Lavin EC-1118. A heat lamp might work, but you will likely have to do some adjusting to get the temp right in the fermenter. By all means, please be fire safe! I am a firefighter by trade, and I don't want to see anyone burn down their home trying to keep their must warm. Please be careful!

 

[Throwback]

Throwback, looks like you have secondary fermentation going on. I have never seen gas alone produce that much active bubbling. I would let it sit for a few more days undisturbed. Keep the air lock clean if any wine gets into it from the foam. Wait for it to settle down, or you are wasting your time with your degassing. Give it three days with a stable SG, then proceed.

Don't sweat it! It's going to be awesome!

Thanks for the insight Dangerdave! I will let it sit some more before trying to degas any more. I'll be on top off it to make sure the airlock is clean.

So here another question for you, Once SG is stable and I begin trying to degassing agian do I have to Potassium Metabisulfite and Potassium Sorbate again? Or do I just leave it the way it is and just do the degassing?

I'm so looking for to trying the finished product, looks and sounds super yummy!

 

[dangerdave]

Oh, my! Good question. I'd leave it. The sorbate is still in there, and this stuff will go so quickly, you won't need the extra sulphite. Let it finish fermenting. Check SG daily and record so you'll know when it's stable. Degas after you have three days of stable readings. Then add your clearing agent and watch it clear. Later, you can back sweeten to taste and bottle.

Patience with the drooling! It will be worth the wait.