Island Mist Blackberry Cab Advice

[Mustang_Bobby]

All,

Thanks for taking the time to look at this. I bought the Island Mist Blackberry Cab kit because I was wanting to make a wine fast since I am more of a beer brewer. I like dry reds with ABV around 12% is it possible to do this with this kit? I want to increase the ABV and take down the sweetness if possible. Again I am no expert on wine but I was thinking of using a champagne yeast instead of the yeast that comes with the kit and adding about 4 pounds of dextrose. Thoughts? I am by no means a wine snob so look at this as more of a get the job done batch more than trying to make it a masterpiece. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Boatboy24]

I'm not certain, but this kit probably has a flavor pack that you add after the wine is stable. Many people will add some or all of this pack to up the ABV and reduce the end sweetness.

What yeast came with the kit? I'd be surprised if it isn't EC-1118, which is a champagne yeast, capable of fermenting up to 18% ABV.

The mist kits are usually lower end, with much of their flavor (and sweetness) coming from that f-pac. I'm sure to some extent it also masks a less than superior underlying wine. So I'm not sure how good a dry mist kit would be. This is all subject to personal taste and expectations, of course.

 

[heatherd]

All,

Thanks for taking the time to look at this. I bought the Island Mist Blackberry Cab kit because I was wanting to make a wine fast since I am more of a beer brewer. I like dry reds with ABV around 12% is it possible to do this with this kit? I want to increase the ABV and take down the sweetness if possible. Again I am no expert on wine but I was thinking of using a champagne yeast instead of the yeast that comes with the kit and adding about 4 pounds of dextrose. Thoughts? I am by no means a wine snob so look at this as more of a get the job done batch more than trying to make it a masterpiece. Thanks again for the help!

What @Boatboy24 responded are good suggestions:

Add the f-pack during primary fermentation.

Stick with the EC-1118 yeast.

I also agree that these kits were designed to be sweet, so you may have to backsweeten to make it taste good. Be sure to add kmeta and sorbate prior to backsweetening.

 

[cpfan]

All,

Thanks for taking the time to look at this. I bought the Island Mist Blackberry Cab kit because I was wanting to make a wine fast since I am more of a beer brewer. I like dry reds with ABV around 12% is it possible to do this with this kit? I want to increase the ABV and take down the sweetness if possible. Again I am no expert on wine but I was thinking of using a champagne yeast instead of the yeast that comes with the kit and adding about 4 pounds of dextrose. Thoughts? I am by no means a wine snob so look at this as more of a get the job done batch more than trying to make it a masterpiece. Thanks again for the help!

Possible? Yes. Desirable? I don't think so.

Can you trade this kit in on a nice cheap red kit? Perhaps Vintners Reserve Merlot or CabSauv or Shiraz or something. In my opinion, you'd have better luck producing a decent red than you will messing with this mist kit.

Steve

 

[ceeaton]

I agree with all the above. I made four Orchard Breezin' kits which are on about the same level with the Island mist kits. I'd add half the fpack to the primary fermenter, then add, to taste, the remaining pack after I followed the directions and clarified and stabilized the batch (I store the remaining 1/2 in fridge until primary ferment is done).

I don't think you'd be happy with a dry kit. As far as time goes, I'm a brewer too. I used to make British bitters and keg/force carbonate and be drinking them two weeks after I pitched the yeast. They'd be drunk before the dry hops I added would get too powerful. Even the low end 4 week red kits need about 5 or 6 months to taste acceptable. You could do the same with a Vintners Reserve Red kit. If you can keep it around longer it does get better with time. Just not as good as the higher end kits. Just buy wine and make more beer until they age, and keep making more, eventually you won't be able to drink it all and it will get to age properly.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[Mustang_Bobby]

All,

Thanks for the suggestions. I went ahead and returned the island mist kit for an actual cab kit. I clearly bought the wrong kit for the task at hand. Regardless, thank you for all of the help. One of the terms I am unfamiliar with is backsweetening? What exactly is backsweetening?

 

[ceeaton]

After the wine is finished (dry), you add Kmeta and Sorbate. This helps to make sure fermentation doesn't start up again. Then you can add a simple syrup, fruit pack, whatever, but basically a sweetening agent that will raise the specific gravity higher and therefore increase the overall sweetness in the finished wine.

Some like it real sweet (SG 1.020) other like it off-dry (.998 or 1.000 or so). Others like it in between those specific gravity readings. It is up to what you like, it is your wine, so make it how you like it to taste. People perform "bench tests" where they add x amount of sweetener to y amount of wine. When they get to the desired sweetness, they apply the ratio to the whole batch.

One note of caution, I always under sweeten a tad. It seems as the wine ages the perceived sweetness seems to increase with time.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mustang_Bobby]

Thanks for the advice and help.