WineXpert Island Mist corn syrup taste

[JakeSnow]

I just bottled an Island Mist Wildberry Shiraz. I can barely taste the flavor of wine because it is quite watered down. Overall the flavor of wildberry is OK but there is the taste or big hint of corn syrup flavoring. It taste fake and reminds me of cough syrup. haha. When I added the F-Pack I just groaned at the sight of adding a bunch of corn syrup to the wine. Drinking this in a glass of ice and 7-UP topper kills most of the syrup taste and is decently refreshing so not all is lost. However don't know if I can withstand 25+ bottles of it. I followed the directions perfectly.
Next time I make an Island Mist wine should I add half of the F-Pack or maybe just add sugar and fruit flavoring extract or a combination?? Any suggestions? Looking to try the green apple reisling or blueberry pinot next time.

 

[Wade E]

If its too sweet for you then add 1/2 the f-pac up front which will up the abv some and if your looking for more abv then add some sugar also to that up front. Not all of these kits are as sweet as the next so I advise if doing a different one to ask first. The Green Apple Riesling and the Peach Apricot Chard are not very sweet so adding 1/2 the f-pac on those might be a mistake IMO!

 

[JakeSnow]

Oh that's good to know that they are different in sweetness from eachother!! I guess I won't give up hope on Island Mist yet.

 

[cpfan]

Jake:

It seems to me that if you followed the instructions you should get about 30 bottles. Maybe some of the taste is because you have more flavour per bottle by about 20%.

I have not made the Wildberry so don't know what it tastes like.

Steve

 

[JakeSnow]

Jake:

It seems to me that if you followed the instructions you should get about 30 bottles. Maybe some of the taste is because you have more flavour per bottle by about 20%.

I have not made the Wildberry so don't know what it tastes like.

Steve

It came out to 29 bottles plus little drinking right after. I gave away a couple of bottles so have about 25 left I think.

 

[cpfan]

It came out to 29 bottles plus little drinking right after. I gave away a couple of bottles so have about 25 left I think.

Ah sorry, I thought you meant you bottled 25+ from the batch.

Steve

 

[St Allie]

Jake,

I have a GA riesling kit waiting to do as well ( mine is a heron bay summer mist kit though).. Whinemaker did the same kit and added half the fpac up front at fermentation and 3 lbs of sugar to up the abv, said it came out well. This is how I intend to do mine ( when I have a primary free). However I do like my wines less sweet, so this may not suit your taste.

Allie

 

[WhineMaker]

Jake,

I have a GA riesling kit waiting to do as well ( mine is a heron bay summer mist kit though).. Whinemaker did the same kit and added half the fpac up front at fermentation and 3 lbs of sugar to up the abv, said it came out well. This is how I intend to do mine ( when I have a primary free). However I do like my wines less sweet, so this may not suit your taste.

Allie

Allie.. The GA Riesling I made I only added the sugar to the primary, and the full F-Pack after fermentation.. The other "mist" kits I have made have gotten 1/2 the F-Pack up front, along with the sugar..

 

[St Allie]

Allie.. The GA Riesling I made I only added the sugar to the primary, and the full F-Pack after fermentation.. The other "mist" kits I have made have gotten 1/2 the F-Pack up front, along with the sugar..

Oh I misread your reply to my query under the heron bay kits Whinemaker, had thought you said you used half the fpac initially for the GA Rieslng. No problem as I haven't made mine yet ..

Hehehe'

Allie

 

[dammitcat]

I have brewed almost every flavor of Island Mist. Wildberry Shiraz was probably the worst. I will not be brewing that one again.
Green Apple Riesling, Exotic Fruits White Zin, and Blueberry Pinot are my favorites. I enjoy mixing them with a dry wine to get the perfect balance.

 

[JakeSnow]

Oh good to know, thanks dammitcat. I want to try that GA Riesling and Blueberry Pinot. Those are next on the list.

 

[Ceegar]

This is discouraging - I almost bought the Wildberry Shiraz - it sounded good. Thanks for letting me know up front. Although my wife drinks wine, she doesn't have a thirst for it like I do but I'm sure she would appreciate this type of kit.

Which is the best of these from your experiences?

 

[cpfan]

Ceegar:

My favourite has always been the Niagara Mist Pink Grapefruit Blush. It is a less sweet than most of the others.

The Orchard Breezin and Niagara Mist Green Apples are also quite good.

I currently have another batch of Niagara Mist Sangria Zinfandel Blush on the go. This is a favourite of our son and daughter-in-law (although I don't think they have tried the Pink Grapefruit or Green Apple ones).

The Orchard Breezin Blackberry Merlot is also great, but sweeter than the rest. It definitely makes great Wine Jelly.

In the past, we enjoyed the Island Mist Exotic Fruit White Zinfandel. But haven't made it in 8-9 years.

Steve

 

[Wade E]

I just made the Banana Pineapple Voignier and it is very nice, I also upped the abv of this by adding about 3 1/2 lbs of table sugar in primary fermentation to a starting sg of 1.082

 

[Ceegar]

What are these basically, a blend of a grape variety and a fruit is all? Is this something a person could blend themselves to get pretty much the same result? I realise everything is well balanced in the kit but some of them seem like they would be easy to dupicate, for instance the Blackberry Merlot you would think you could do a blend pretty easily that would be similar to the kit. And some of them seem like they would be pretty hard to make from scratch.