Dr. Bray? Need assistance with Dragons Blood
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loveofrose
Well-Known Member
Full recipe please (What you did, not what you meant to do). I will be happy to help after I have all the info!
I actually followed the recipe from your website exactly as I didn't want to break the warranty. Only difference is I misread a gravity reading I and did the second feeding well before 1/3 break. I managed to mistake 1.150 for 1.100 due to some bubbles.
loveofrose
Well-Known Member
Something must be different, or it would not have stalled. Your response makes no sense. In order to determine what to do, I need to know what went wrong. Many questions:
Are there temperature swings? Did you let the sorrel mixture cool completely?
Wait, was your starting gravity 1.15? Are you reading your hydrometer correctly? This mead should never be 1.15.
What gravities did you add nutrients?
How did you measure the honey?
Was the Wyeast 1388 shipped during a heat wave?
Are you using Fermaid K?
In the meantime, degas the crap out of it by shaking multiple times a day. Also, place it on top of your refrigerator if your home is cold. If you can, take a pH reading.
Are there temperature swings? Did you let the sorrel mixture cool completely?
Wait, was your starting gravity 1.15? Are you reading your hydrometer correctly? This mead should never be 1.15.
What gravities did you add nutrients?
How did you measure the honey?
Was the Wyeast 1388 shipped during a heat wave?
Are you using Fermaid K?
In the meantime, degas the crap out of it by shaking multiple times a day. Also, place it on top of your refrigerator if your home is cold. If you can, take a pH reading.
Sorry, I should have provided more info at the start. Appreciate you helping in any way.
- Are there temperature swings? - Not really, my home office stays around 75 F
- Did you let the sorrel mixture cool completely? - Yep, overnight in the fridge as suggested by the recipe.
- Wait, was your starting gravity 1.15? Are you reading your hydrometer correctly? This mead should never be 1.15. - I'm pretty sure I am reading it right,
- What gravities did you add nutrients? - This is where I screwed up. Initial gravity came out to 1.165 and idiot me added the first nutrients at 1.15 instead of around 1.12
- How did you measure the honey? - Weight, using my digital kitchen scale.
- Was the Wyeast 1388 shipped during a heat wave? - Pretty hot time, ice pack was completely thawed. However, I made a starter from it and used that to start the T'ej, Szechuan, Cyser and Herbal Ginger from your recipes at the same time. Cyser has hit .99, Szechuan is about 1.015, Herbal Ginger is hovering at 1.02, T'ej is at 1.01. BTW, the Dragon's Blood, Cyser & Herbal Ginger all needed blow off tubes for the first couple days.
- Are you using Fermaid K? - Yep
loveofrose
Well-Known Member
No. The max starting gravity for Dragon's Blood is 1.12 according to the recipe. Your SG was waaayyy too high for this to work. Pitching more yeast won't do anything. I would use it to make the cocktail with carbonated water instead of sprite. That should cut the sweetness.
How are you adding honey? You should add by weight or volume.
How are you adding honey? You should add by weight or volume.
loveofrose
Well-Known Member
If you added 3 lbs by weight with your scale according to the recipe, then I don't trust your scale (and neither should you!). Using 3 lbs of honey should have ended dry. Try 2 lbs to be sure and ... test your scale!
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If it's a digital scale, you should be able to recalibrate it. It should have come with instructions.
Ok, I now understand what happened. When my daughter and I were putting things together I zeroed out the scale with my glass 4 cup measure on it. According to my daughter, who was in charge of the honey, she used the other 4 cup measure when we got to the dragon's Blood as the first had gotten dirty.
Unfortunately, the second measure is plastic, not glass. This resulted in a nearly 9oz difference by weight. Would 9 extra oz of honey explain the difference?
Unfortunately, the second measure is plastic, not glass. This resulted in a nearly 9oz difference by weight. Would 9 extra oz of honey explain the difference?
loveofrose
Well-Known Member
Mystery solved! After it clears, try the following adapted Dragon's Blood Cocktail:
Add a bit of mead to a glass and muddle a few mint leaves gently. Then add the following:
Fill glass with ice, and add
3 oz Your Uber Sweet Mead
1 oz Setzer Water
Stir gently and garnish with mint.
Add more Setzer or vodka if it is still too sweet. Mead cocktails are a wonder buzz, so don't knock it until you try it!
Add a bit of mead to a glass and muddle a few mint leaves gently. Then add the following:
Fill glass with ice, and add
3 oz Your Uber Sweet Mead
1 oz Setzer Water
Stir gently and garnish with mint.
Add more Setzer or vodka if it is still too sweet. Mead cocktails are a wonder buzz, so don't knock it until you try it!
