WineXpert Island Mist Hard Pink Lemonade

[Grabo]

My Pink Lemonade shipped, too! I should receive it on Wednesday, but I don't think I'll be able to start it until next week.

 

[Boatboy24]

I was looking at that kit a few days ago.
How big is the f-pack?
I assume it is a Blueberry flavor.
I also assume it came with labels.

I'll tell ya in a few days when I open it. My assumption is it is the regular pink lemonade kit, with blueberry flavor in the f-pack, as you mentioned. If I recall correctly, it does come with labels.

I'm going to carbonate some of this and put it into flip top bottles for some summer fun.

 

[Grabo]

My Pink Lemonade kit arrived today. The F-Pack appears to be larger than the Island Mist Pom/Zin F-Pack.

 

[Frenche]

Pre-ordered hard lemonade

I pre-ordered the blueberry and pink lemonade back on 3-15. I'm hoping they arrive soon, as I can't wait to try them. Are they overly sweet the way island mist kits tend to be? If adding part of the f-pak during initial fermentation do you have to refrigerate the remainder?

 

[geek]

Yes, and yes you should/can.

 

[Elizajean]

Mine has arrived as well. I will not want it very sweet, shall I add all the fpack upfront? If I do that, will the flavor still be strong? Is anyone going to add frozen blueberries to boost the flavor?

 

[Grabo]

In my mind, Lemonade should be sweet and tart, but I want my IM Pink Lemonade to be a little more alcoholic. You can smell the lemony, tart goodness through the F-pack packaging, even though the cap is still on, so I feel like I'm going to hit my target. I'm planning to bump up the SG to about 1.075, and save the whole F-Pack for backsweetening. When we drink this over the summer, I feel like we will be drinking it over ice, so the extra sweetness won't be an issue for me.

 

[geek]

Mine has arrived as well. I will not want it very sweet, shall I add all the fpack upfront? If I do that, will the flavor still be strong? Is anyone going to add frozen blueberries to boost the flavor?

If you add ALL of it up-front then it will be a dry wine which may not be typical for this type of wine, unless you back sweeten with something at the end.

If you don't want it too sweet, then half the f-pack may be a good idea to go in primary and the rest to back sweeten.

 

[Elizajean]

If you add ALL of it up-front then it will be a dry wine which may not be typical for this type of wine, unless you back sweeten with something at the end.

If you don't want it too sweet, then half the f-pack may be a good idea to go in primary and the rest to back sweeten.

Thank you, I think I will do that to have a slightly sweet wine. Besides that we don't care for overly sweet, my husband is diabetic and I need to keep the carbs down as much as possible.

 

[Grabo]

I started the Pink Lemonade on Saturday night. I added 5 cups of Domino sugar to bump the SG to 1.072 @ 72F, and pitched the EC-1118. I'm going out of town next week, so my plan is to have it mostly fermented and transferred into glass by this weekend.

 

[Boatboy24]

Kicked off the blueberry pink lemonade yesterday. Added 1L of white grape concentrate, half the f-pack, and sugar to get me to 1.086. The f-pack is dark blue and lemony. We will see how it ends up, but I may kick it up with some tartaric to give it some zing.

Or would it be preferable to use citric?

 

[geek]

Kicked off the blueberry pink lemonade yesterday. Added 1L of white grape concentrate, half the f-pack, and sugar to get me to 1.086. The f-pack is dark blue and lemony. We will see how it ends up, but I may kick it up with some tartaric to give it some zing.

Or would it be preferable to use citric?

Is that the 1L white grape concentrate from LP?

 

[Boatboy24]

Is that the 1L white grape concentrate from LP?

Indeed, it is!

I'd also purchased the 1lb container of corn sugar, but ended up using that on the guava.

 

[Boatboy24]

Racked today - SG 0.992. We left yesterday for an out of town overnighter, so I snapped the lid down and added an airlock. It did just fine - plenty of CO2 left in there and still bubbling the airlock after racking with the AllinOne.

 

[geek]

Sounds like it's done. Will be interested in knowing the flavor and smell profile of that cheap kit, the name sounds good.

 

[BOB21801]

I want to try the Blueberry Pink Lemonade too. I'll have a an empty fermenter and carboy very soon, and this does sound like a nice summertime drink. I'm wondering if I'll find it locally, or I'll have to order. Is there a preferred place to order from?

Bob

 

[Boatboy24]

Bob: I got mine from Label Peelers.

 

[Grabo]

I also got my lemonade kit from Label Peelers. My LHBS is more focused on beer, so they are good for ingredients and reagents, but not so much for kits.

My Pink Lemonade finished at 0.992 @ 70F, and is now clearing. It is about 11% ABV with my sugar addition. I'm not in a huge hurry for it, so I'm letting it clear per the instructions. The taste so far is typical for an IM kit without any F-pack added. Very light on flavor, mostly dominated by the yeast.

 

[BOB21801]

Thanks Jim and Steve. I checked out Label Peelers, but also like to support the two local suppliers unless there's a big price difference. I called the mom and pop shop nearest to me first. They didn't have the blueberry, but did have the Pink Lemonade (priced at $75). While I wasn't set on getting the absolute best price, the difference was substantial, so I was upfront and told them about the online sale prices for these kits. They offered to match the price on the Pink lemonade, so I'm going there after work today to buy that. Also, when I stopped at my daughter's house on the way home from work, I asked her what she thought about trying a Hard Pink Lemonade. Her response was "Daddy, you need to make that for me.", so I guess that's settled. I appreciate him giving me the discount, and I've been getting to know the couple who own the shop pretty well. He's been asking about buying thornless blackberry vines from me, so when I get those ready for him, I'll treat him extra well too.

Bob
​

 

[Grabo]

I added the F-pack to the Pink Lemonade today, and set it aside to bulk age for 3 months. After adding the whole F-pack, it went from 0.992 to 1.014 @ 70F. Before adding the F-pack, the wine didn't taste like too much. It tasted like when you order "water with lemon" at a restaurant. Just a hint of lemon/citrus. After adding the F-pack, it tastes just like you would expect pink lemonade to taste. It is sweet with a lot of tart flavor. Just what I wanted from this kit. The wife already likes it more than Mike's Hard Lemonade, so I'm calling this one a success.