Thank you everyone. My first wine.

[TX Wineaux]

I think I found my new favorite hobby! After much research on this forum and purchasing the necessary equipment / supplies, I made my very first wine. I thought it would be fun for my first one to be Dave's Dragons Blood after reading all the rave reviews. I skipped all the lemon juice and opted for Acid Blend instead (Dragonette) with 12lbs of frozen berries. Back-sweetened with 4 cups of sugar and three cans of frozen triple berry concentrate. Also added 2 1/2 ounces of glycerine after filtering with 1 micron. My wife and I were blown away with how good it was and we are looking forward to seeing how it changes over time in the bottle.

I learned a lot during this process and had a blast doing it. THANKS TO EVERYONE who has shared your experiences on this forum for others to read and learn. I thought it would be best to first read and research, rather than ask a lot of questions, which is why I haven't commented much on here. Now that I have one under my belt I may start chiming in more.

The biggest lesson I learned throughout this little venture was to be patient and trust the process. I created a quick label and decided to change the wine's name to be more fitting for my experience; "Patience".

I Immediately started a wine kit while I degassed, stabilized, and fined my DB. The kit should ferment dry by tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that. On deck is a blackberry and then a tropical. I need more ideas.

I also wanted to give a shout out to Steve with the All In One Wine Pump. Degassing, filtering, bottling, and the headspace eliminator was the best. Racking and degassing was a blast and I kind of hated to see all the Co2 go, ha ha.


Here are a couple photos of my finished product. Mine is a little darker than others. I'm assuming it's because of the 12 lbs of triple berries and the addition of the concentrate for back-sweetening.


Thanks again to all the experienced wine makers who have shared their experiences for others to learn.

 

[Bossbaby]

that's awsome! I'm also patiently waiting on my first ever batches of elderberry In 5gal, BlackBerry in 2 gal and peach in 1 gal, it's been interesting to learn the ins and outs of wine and this site has been a lot of help. Good luck with your next batches!

 

[TX Wineaux]

Thank you, and yes it has been very interesting, especially when others like what you made. A buddy stopped by and we drank a bottle and he left with three bottles. I can tell this will not last long so I'm going to hide a few to let them age a couple months and see what they're like. Time to start another batch!

 

[NorCal]

Congrats, looks like you have all the elements to make some excellent wine!

 

[user 38734]

That looks great!

If you can squirrel away a couple bottles of your DB for 12 to 18 months, you'll taste a big improvement.

 

[TX Wineaux]

I put away 3 bottles and planned on opening at 3, 6, and 12 months. I wasn't sure if 18 months would make any noticeable change but now I will hide a 4th bottle and try it, Thanks. I will have plenty of other stuff to share with friends so it shouldn't be too hard to hide 4 bottles and keep the thieves away.

 

[Old Corker]

Congrats from TX on kicking off your new hobby. Also, congrats for finding this forum. The exchange of experience, ideas and humor is priceless.

I will have plenty of other stuff to share with friends so it shouldn't be too hard to hide 4 bottles and keep the thieves away.

And in the future we'll see how funny this quote is.

Cheers

 

[TX Wineaux]

yeah right, famous last words. This stuff goes fast

 

[Arne]

Let you in on a not very well kept secret. Make bigger batches and they last longer. (Long as you dont drink a lot more.) Arne.

 

[CheerfulHeart]

Your wine looks great. Love the labels!

 

[TX Wineaux]

Your wine looks great. Love the labels!

thank you very much.