WineXpert Island Mist???

[JohnnyK68]

OK I am being hassled by my wife and sister in law to make an Island Mist kit. They love the Arbor Mist and want me to make one of these for them. I dont have too much of a problem with it except my wife cant drink for another 7 months (expecting our child). Here is the thing. I dont like sweet wines all that much, what is the least sweet of these that I might not mind all that much? Preferably a red.

 

[smurfe]

I have never had or madeone but many have. I would suggest waiting to make it though. If I remember correct, you want to drink that style up within 6 months or so due to a lower alcohol content. There is no aging involved. I would wait till she has the baby or maybe a month before. Just an idea.


Smurfe


PS- I don't like sweet wines either hence the reason I never made one. GuessI could for the wife. She likes that sweet stuff to.Edited by: smurfe

 

[Wade E]

They are all pretty sweet but saying that, I wwill say the blackberry
cabernet and the black raspberry merlot. The green apple is also really
nise and the peach apricot chardonnay are good to. Didnt really care
for the Exotic fruit zin though.

 

[masta]

I have made most of them and they are all very sweet in my opinion. You can reduce the sweetness by adding less of the F-Pack which I have done with some RJS kits in the past since they were even too sweet for my bride.


Congrats of the upcoming addition to the family.

 

[JohnnyK68]

Thank You very much Masta. I am leaning towards the blackberry cabernet. I see on Georges page it says no againg and reaches peak in 1 year. With my sister in law around that stuff dosent stand a chance for a month never mind a year...lol. Think I will wait a little. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[Steve]

I did a green apple and it is great, kicked it up with about 10 cups of sugar...

 

[Bert]

I made a Blackberry Cabernet last summer...I brought thr SG. up to about 1.075 and added the whole F-pack...The extra alcohol helped balance out the sweetness....You could drink it at bottleing, but two months made it a lot nicer....Served cold it was a nice summer drink...

 

[geocorn]

I personally think the Green Apple is the least sweetest. I am not into sweet wines, but I can actually enjoy that one.

 

[david_québec]

Hi! dont let your wife drink alcool while she is pregnant (for the child health!) she will have plenty of time to do it later! children is a gift and there is so much children coming to life with problems due to the alcool ingestion during pregnancy. i think there is a name for that kind of "problem" at birth...


anyway. Mist Kits are pretty sweet. Some (to cut the sweetness) put half of the F-Pack in the primary for fermentation and keep the other half of the F-Pack to make like the instruction.


By doing this you crank up the S.G in the beginning thus giving you a wine with a bit more alcool Maybe 8% or 9% instead of 6% and also since you add less sugar at the end (F-Pack addition step) this wine will be less sweet.


i have a make a Mango Island mist kit and this one taste a lot more Coconuts than mango! my best at this day is a peach chardonnay!


and Yes those wine are so nice by the pool when it's very hot outside!
(and most of the ladies prefer that over beer.... so everybody is happy! )

 

[Pepere]

I guess I'll add my $.02 on this one.


First welcome and congrats on the new family!

Neither of us are sweet wine drinkers however, the Green Applle Riesling is a hit in this house. A few tweeks and it is a nice summer refresher.


As already mentioned: " Add 1/2 the F-pack and 2lbs of extra sugar to the primary. I made a simple syrup with water and 2lbs of sugar, let it cool and added it to the primary. This will take your ABV up around 11 or 12%. Be cautious and vigilant during the primary stage, the F-Pack contains chems that may get your primary fimentation "stuck." George can give you the details. My first batch stopped prematurly and a quick stir got 'er gong again.


When you reach the point in the instructions to add the F-Pack just put the remainder in a little at a time. You can back-sweeten to your desired taste. While this wine is meant to be consumed right away, once bottled i let it stand for a month. I'm down to 2 bottles which my wife has hidden somewhere for fear I'll give it away. Chill it in the fridg or serve on ice it's a great summer drink. Good luck and keep us informed about the new family.

 

[Wade E]

Thats agreat idea of adding some of the f-pack when starting to bump
it. Ive heard of bumping it up with sugar but I like that idea with the
f-pack instead!

 

[JohnnyK68]

Hi! dont let your wife drink alcool while she is pregnant (for the child health!) she will have plenty of time to do it later! children is a gift and there is so much children coming to life with problems due to the alcool ingestion during pregnancy. i think there is a name for that kind of "problem" at birth...


anyway. Mist Kits are pretty sweet. Some (to cut the sweetness) put half of the F-Pack in the primary for fermentation and keep the other half of the F-Pack to make like the instruction.


By doing this you crank up the S.G in the beginning thus giving you a wine with a bit more alcool Maybe 8% or 9% instead of 6% and also since you add less sugar at the end (F-Pack addition step) this wine will be less sweet.


i have a make a Mango Island mist kit and this one taste a lot more Coconuts than mango! my best at this day is a peach chardonnay!


and Yes those wine are so nice by the pool when it's very hot outside!
(and most of the ladies prefer that over beer.... so everybody is happy! )

Look at my earlier post where I said my wife cant drink anything for another 7 months. I would never let, nor would she ever want to drink while pregnant. There is nothing that bothers me more then to see a pregnant mom drinking and or smoking.

 

[Angell Wine]

Thats great idea of adding some of the f-pack when starting to bump it. Ive heard of bumping it up with sugar but I like that idea with the f-pack instead!

Don't use the f-pack for bumping up the s.g. unless you want some pretty bad tasting wine. Use white or brown sugar for this process.White for white wines/Brown for reds.I will add 4 Lbs of sugar to an Island mist Kit with one tsp of acid blend to give it a little bite to it.Edited by: Angell Wine

 

[Wade E]

Okay, sounded like a good idea though.

 

[masta]

Just to help clarify a few things (mainly for new wine makers) regarding adding a portion of the F-pack to the juice in the initial make-up. Even though it is done successfully by people you should be aware of the risk of having a fermentation that will not start. This reason for this is the F-Pack not only contains sugar and flavoring it also contains sorbate, sulfite, and a measure of sodium benzoate.


Sodium Benzoate: As a food additiveit is used as a preservative effectively killing most yeasts, bacteria and fungi. Sodium benzoate is effective only in acidic conditions (pH < 3.6) My guess would be that this is added to the mist kits due to the lower alcohol content.


But bottom line it is your kit and you certainly can do as you wish but the warranty could be at risk if you don't follow the instructions.Edited by: masta

 

[wolfman]

So masta I am assuming that adding sugar to fermentation is okay to kick the alcohol.. and is this plain and simple table sugar?



Is there anyway to determine how much sugar to add to get to a certain level of ABV?

 

[grapeman]

Wolfman, check the specicfic gravity of the kit when mixed up. See what potential alcohol it relates to. You can calculate the sugar needed to bump it up to the level you want. You can also go by trial and error adding about a cup or two at a time and rechecking the sg until you get to the level you want. Just don't go too high and expect the yeast to eat it all. It will eventually stall.

 

[masta]

Adding 5 lbs of table sugar (brought to a boil in at least 1 gal of water and cooled) to the IM kits will bring the starting SG up to ~1.090 and produce a wine with an ABV of ~12.5%.

 

[jobe05]

Appleman: I'm glad you posted that! I take what you said as you add the sugar dry, right to the must.


I tried this a while back on an Island mist kit when the sg got down to 1.010. It didn't seem to bring the sg up very much. As I recall, I added 4 1/2 pounds of raw, fine grain sugar. Since that time, I have been adding the sugar to heated water to desolve, then add to the must, but now finding that I'm diluting the wine to much in certain cases.


Does it really matter if the sugar is desolved or not?

 

[Coaster]

i have a make a Mango Island mist kit and this one taste a lot more Coconuts than mango!

Mine too (Mango Citrus Symphony)! And I don't like coconut but the wife does so she is happy.

Edited by: Coaster