Thoughts

[Dend78]

well guys i took all of your advice and......peed all over...hahah sorry guys after doing some reading skeeter pee/dragons blood seemed like what i was looking for in life.

so i have 3 gallons going right now

updates on the hooch i had going

Peach - drank about 20oz of it yesterday, i dont think its every going to clear, taste isnt to bad (not real good either) but ive paid for and uncorked much worse

Blueberry - still letting this clear, not totally sure it ever will either its super dark, im about ready to rerack in a clean carboy again to see it it helps any.

Dragons blood - Followed Dave's methods here

SG with everything in it minus yeast was 1.085ish or 20% ABV
Yeast was added on 8/11/12
opened it up today SG was 1.080 and it sounded like a fresh can of soda with all of the fizzing going on, strong fermentation is underway

 

[DirtyDawg10]

You might want to recheck your math. I started my pee at 1.085sg and it ended at .996sg which gave me approximately a 12% ABV.

 

[Dend78]

see thats what i was thinking but when it was sitting in there it was riding about right on 20% which i thought was pretty high for 1.085ish, but this is my first go around with my hydrometer so could just be the rookie in me pushing through. either way 12 or 20 ima drink it

 

[Bartman]

W
Kinda sounds like your making prison hooch instead of wine, but hey if you don't live and learn you will always ask yourself "what if".

That was in an actual movie from 2006: "Let's Go to Prison"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454987/quotes:

Barry: Would you like some Merlot? I make it in the toilet!
[Nelson shaking with fear]

 

[Dend78]

updates

Transfered Blueberry to a clean carboy, i think its safe to say its never going to clear, during transfer large particals can be seen in the hose, and well its still way to sweet but im gonna drink it anyway

Peach is actually chillin in the fridge, gonna let it age a bit to see what comes of it, after a few days the taste has changed quite a bit so i will age/chill it for a while.

dragons blood variation major jump today yesterday was sitting around 1.080 today 1.050, im gonna run this down past 1.000 a little cause well the 21yr old inside me says i should

 

[southlake333]

updates

Transfered Blueberry to a clean carboy, i think its safe to say its never going to clear, during transfer large particals can be seen in the hose, and well its still way to sweet but im gonna drink it anyway

Peach is actually chillin in the fridge, gonna let it age a bit to see what comes of it, after a few days the taste has changed quite a bit so i will age/chill it for a while.

dragons blood variation major jump today yesterday was sitting around 1.080 today 1.050, im gonna run this down past 1.000 a little cause well the 21yr old inside me says i should

Dragon's blood ferments fast. You will typically need to rack to a secondary in 4 days or so. But yeah, I let it go totally dry (around .995) before stabilizing and backsweetening.

 

[Dend78]

yeah thats what i was thinking, what kind of ill effects do you get if you let it go to finish?

im guessing flavor loss but what else happens?

 

[southlake333]

Ill effects from fermenting dry? None. That's really how you should do it. Once it is dry, stabilize and backsweeten to taste.

 

[Dend78]

thats what I thought but wasnt 100% sure on that

UPDATES:

Dragons Blood variation - still going like crazy, didint get to check it at 24 hours but checked it around 33-34 hours and im a 1.000 on the button, im guessing tonight at the rate its going im going to be nearly .98 or lower im rellly gonna hate to stop it if it doesnt stop on its own its fermenting like a champ. one issue could just be me and what i was expecting, but i gave it a taste test last night and wow i only taste lemon, i used 45oz for a 3gal batch....my issue should the super bitter lemon flavor jump out and grab you? or could it be the addition of watermelon to my fruit bag thats causing it to be more bitter? its strange because i really expected more fruit flavor but i dunno.

Peach stuff - well im down to about 15oz from my 1/2 gal batch, had a friend give it a try and this is what he had to say, hes like i get the wine taste but then i get a touch of lightly flavored water taste afterwards that clears the wine taste, its really strange, but drinkable. (that means its a win, if its drinkable its a win )

Blueberry same friend tried the blueberry, hes like aside from the sweetness that slaps you instantly, its good, you definately get the wine taste but then the super sweetness hits you, again drinkable. so last night i added more water to what i had left, a few hours later i tasted it and boom that fixed the overpowering sweetness, and you still get the wine taste.

 

[southlake333]

If you used the full amount of lemon, there will be a lemon bite in the beginning, followed by a smooth berry finish. But, what you're probably tasting now is the young wine flavor. You'll find that all wines you make have that same weird taste right when they finish fermentation. That fades within a week or two. At a month, the berry flavor will really pop out. Because of this, I suggest letting it sit after clearing for 2 weeks before you backsweeten. Its much easier to properly sweeten when you're not competing with the young wine taste.

If the result after a month is still too lemony for you, make your next batch with less lemon.

 

[Dend78]

a month?!?!? hey hey hey i have a habbit to feed here

yeah, my plan is to rack it tonight, im putting it all in 1gal car boys, each of the 3 will get different BS'ers. Im thinking one will be plain ol sugar, another I think possible welches grape (not sure which one yet) and the 3rd will recieve Ole Orchard blueberry pomegranate juice, then see which goes down the best. plus another thing with the smaller batches im my mind i see it as eaiser to degas and clear smaller amounts of wine rather than the large amount all in one (i could be wrong here but thats the way it seems it should work in my backwoods Indiana way of thinking).

 

[Dend78]

WOOT WOOT!!! Racked it last night at about 8ish SG was 0.990, added kmeta, sorbate and spakeloid, came down this morning i am already able to see through it up at the top. this stuff is gonna be ready quick, im gonna be back sweetening really soon. im stoked, another taste last night proved its still super bitter lemon, but its smoother than the night before.

side note:

im thinkin my hydrometer is messed up, it went from standing perfectly in the test tube, and now it clings to a side every time, already time for a new hydrometer?

 

[Boatboy24]

side note:

im thinkin my hydrometer is messed up, it went from standing perfectly in the test tube, and now it clings to a side every time, already time for a new hydrometer?

I have two different hydrometers and they both do that. It's maddening trying to get a reading in the wine thief.

You'll be surprised how that pee changes in 4-6 weeks.

 

[southlake333]

a month?!?!? hey hey hey i have a habbit to feed here

This is why we make 6 gallon batches. You can have some now and some later to see the difference a month makes. Once you taste it at a month, you'll never want it straight out of the carboy again. That's when you go buy 100 carboys and constantly cycle your batches so you have 1000+ bottles of aged wine around at all times...you know...just in case...

 

[southlake333]

im thinkin my hydrometer is messed up, it went from standing perfectly in the test tube, and now it clings to a side every time, already time for a new hydrometer?

This is why you spin it. Also, make sure you're testing on a completely level surface.

 

[Dend78]

I have two different hydrometers and they both do that. It's maddening trying to get a reading in the wine thief.

You'll be surprised how that pee changes in 4-6 weeks.

yeah that sucks about the hydrometers, it was doing pefect at first now the side of the tube is like a magnet

This is why we make 6 gallon batches. You can have some now and some later to see the difference a month makes. Once you taste it at a month, you'll never want it straight out of the carboy again. That's when you go buy 100 carboys and constantly cycle your batches so you have 1000+ bottles of aged wine around at all times...you know...just in case...

hmmm gonna have to look into this 100 carboy's thing, i think the warden may me if i try to get anything else aside from bottles in the near future.

This is why you spin it. Also, make sure you're testing on a completely level surface.

I do spin it then click it hits the side, it just started doing it, i even tried it in water just to see if maybe my SP may be causeing it but same thing. oh well its 7 bucks if i have to get another one so be it.

 

[Dend78]

well SP is coming along quite nicely its clearing up really really well, still tastes super bitter though, like past the lemon bitter, im seriously thinking the addition of water melon may be my problem here but i could be wrong, its bitter and has an off flavor. nothing a ton-o back sweetening wont cure.

 

[Dend78]

rechecked my SG still 0.990 no change since moving from primary to secondary on 8/17/2012
did another taste still slap you in the face bitter, i do feel better after reading through Dave's notes about there being more bitterness when using bentonite in the primary, this could be the bitter off flavor i get with a hint of lemon (its sad when the lemon flavor helps tone down the bitterness...hahaha).


on a good note

Blueberry wine/hooch got the go ahead from my uncle and my father, my uncle doesnt do wine he doesnt care for the taste, my dad who is basically the same way both tried it and liked it. needless to say my dad looked at what was left of my 1/2 gallon batch and said "ummm yeah you didnt make near enough of this how quick can you come up with some more?" hahaha again this was after the addition of some extra water to tame down my over sweetening

 

[southlake333]

Congrats on the blueberry success.

About your super bitter taste...I just racked my tinkleberry and tinkleberry tropical batches yesterday at an SG of .989 and they too had the nasty slap you in the face bitter taste. Trust me when I say this is just because it is young and unsweetened. Once you add sparkolloid (which should be soon), wait a full 2 weeks before racking and backsweetening. It will be clear before then, but the extra time is needed to allow that bite to tone down. Once toned down, it will be much easier to properly backsweeten. Imagine trying to sweeten now. You'd have to add a ton of sugar to offset that nasty taste. But then a few weeks from now when that taste is gone, the wine would be ridiculously sweet.

So after all this waiting, it'll still be 2 weeks after you bottle it before the fruit flavor really comes out. Still this is a great learning experience as you are going to see in a very short time how age changes the flavor.

 

[Dend78]

So after all this waiting, it'll still be 2 weeks after you bottle it before the fruit flavor really comes out. Still this is a great learning experience as you are going to see in a very short time how age changes the flavor.

I hope so im so freakin ready to get this stuff to a drinkable state, ive got my bottles, bottle filler, and auto siphon and tubing all ready to go, and im way past ready. on sweetening i was thinking about that there is no way you could do it now especially if the flavors and sugars will change that much from now.

I will keep this updated on the progress, and ima post some pics soon i got some already just gotta transfer.