"Dragon Blood"

One of the best things I have done related to wine making is to join the Home Made Wine Making Google+ Community.  Community members are always posting interesting things and there is a lot of recipe sharing that goes on.  One of the wine recipes that frequently pops up is known as "Dragon Blood" - a name that was coined by a home made winemaker known as DangerDave.  DangerDave's Dragon Blood recipe is a variation of berry wine recipes that are described, for example, in that little purple "Winemaker's Recipe Handbook".  DangerDave's innovation is to use a frozen triple berry mix, found in the frozen food section of just about every supermarket, as the fruit.  By all accounts, Dragon Blood is easy to make and it can be ready to drink in less than two weeks.  This seemed like something worth trying.

As it happened, one day I was shopping at Costco, and spotted a frozen organic fruit mix (blackberry, blueberry, cherry, pomegranate, and strawberry).  This was just the thing to use in a first attempt of a Dragon Blood variation.  This frozen fruit sat in my deep freeze for a few months and I recently decided to get on with it.

"Super Fruit Blend"

As it is with chemistry experiments, so it is with wine making: The first thing you do is spend some time planning what you will do.  In wine making, this means reading and comparing different recipes, and then coming up with your own.  On looking at DangerDave's recipe, I was little nervous about how much lemon juice (48 oz.!!) is added because that is just too much acidity for me.  My purple handbook has a number of berry wine recipes that include only small amounts of acid blend, to improve the balance.  I decided to opt for that approach rather than load it up with lemon juice.

Here's the recipe:

3 gallons distilled water
15 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp peptic enzyme
2 tsp yeast nutrient
1.5 tsp acid blend (tartaric, citric, malic acids)
3 campden tablets (crushed)
1.5 kg of "Super Fruit Blend", in a nylon mesh bag (tied-off)

The sugar, peptic enzyme, yeast nutrient, acid blend, and campden tablets were dissolved in 3 gallons of water, in the primary fermenter (white plastic bucket with lid).  The frozen fruit, in a tied-off nylon mesh bag was steeped in the mixture for the next 24 hours.  During that period, I wrung out the bag a few times to squeeze out the juices and infuse the fruit with peptic enzyme.

Fruit in nylon mesh bag.

Ready to steep.

After steeping, and prior to adding the yeast, I took a density measurement so I could estimate alcohol content later.  Specific gravity = 1.087.  I added the yeast (1 packet of sparkling wine yeast) to get the fermentation started.

Primary fermentation underway.

During the primary fermentation, there were nice, mild, fruity aromas in the room.  Every other day, I stirred the mixture to help draw out the fruit flavours.  By the sixth day, the specific gravity was 1.035.  This was low enough that I siphoned the must into a carboy for secondary fermentation.

Secondary fermentation (4 days after transfer)

So there it is.  Fermentation is still going.  My plan is to let it go right to dryness before bottling.

Fruit Wine Blends

Let's face it - you can ferment just about fruit that you can pick out of the garden.  My favourite starting material (I am a chemistry after all) is Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus). The fruit is large and juicy, and if you don't mind getting scratched to hell, one can pick 10 lbs in about 90 minutes.

I generally pick/freeze at least 100 lbs every summer and put them in the freezer - along with the other fruits from my garden and our neighbours. Once fall comes, it is time for making wine!! The advantage of freezing the blackberries is that they break apart into mush upon thawing, making it easier for the fermentation.

Here's a rough schedule of a batch of blackberry wine I made in August 2012.

18 lb of frozen berries plus 1/2 tsp metabisulfite allowed to thaw in the primary fermentation container (which was first washed with Javex solution and well rinsed). This was on Aug 17th.

The next day, 2 Tsp yeast nutrient, 1 Tsp pectic enzyme, 1/2 tsp grape tannin and 2 Tsp acid blend was sprinkled on top of the fruit. A total of 15 lb of sugar was added, followed by sufficient warm water (~18 L - with stirring) to bring to total volume up to ~ the 5 gallon mark (the fruit will be floating at this point).

This gave me a SG reading (hydrometer) of ~1.090.

One package of wine yeast is then sprinkled on top of the pulp and allowed to sit (with a cover on) overnight. Depending upon the room temperature, the top of the fruit will be bubbling/frothing the next day and I then stir the yeast into the solution, and stir up the pulp twice a day after that.

I racked the juice off the pulp (on Aug 22nd) into the secondary fermentation container and added a bit of water to bring the volume close to the top of the container (watch out for frothing over the first couple of days) and put on an air lock (containing a bit of metabisulfite solution). The rate of bubbling gradually slows as the amount of residual sugar in solution decreases.

I racked the wine into another secondary fermentation container (containing a bit of bentonite and some gelatine) on Sept 18th and replaced the air lock.

On Oct 12th I racked the wine a final time and then bottled it

The final result was 29 bottles of a dry, full-bodied wine.

I have also included a picture of some of the various fruit wines I currently have aging. 

Feel free to experiment on your own …. have fun and happy sipping.