Fast Fermentation with Island Mist Kit

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lewisericeric

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Hi All

Hope someone might be able to offer some advice as this one is puzzling me a bit.

I started an Island Mist kit (Strawberry White Merlot) and out of all my kits I bought this was the one I was most excited about as it just sounded delicious.

However, as it was only 6.5% I wanted to create an experiment. So I added enough sugar to take the SG up to about 1065. (Original SG was 1040!)

Anyway, the instructions stated that after 5-7 days you should check the SG and it should be around 1010-1018 and if it is , you should rack off for secondary fermentation. It advised that if the SG wasnt yet 1010-1018 wait until it is.

Well, I decided to leave it until day 7 to check for the SG as I (wrongly!) assumed at the time that because I added more sugar, it would take longer to get down to that level.

On day 7, the reading was 0996! I racked off immediately.

The instructions state that for secondary fermentation should be around 10 days and that fermentation is complete when wine is between 0994-0996.

3 consecutive days, revealed the SG at 0996 and therefore fermentation is complete already despite another 10 days due!?!

I tasted the wine at this point and it was acrid to say the least. Really strong tasting (got the back of the throat)

At this point in the instructions, it advised to add the F-Pack which was a strawberry flavoured thick syrup.

It advised that the SG would return to around 1010-1018 once this was added. The SG did return to around 1014 but still doesn't taste like something I'd drink.

I knew the risk of adding sugar may well drown out those strawberry tones, but I didn't expect for the original SG to be taken from 1040 to 1065 to create rocket fuel as it's not that much of an increase. And it doesn't explain why the fermentation completed 10 days early!

However, all the SG readings are as per the instructions so what's happened?

Do I just need to wait for it to clear and then maybe add glycerine/Sinatin 17 to hopefully round it off into something that's very drinkable and refreshing (like in my dreams?!!)

Any help/opinions much appreciatedd!!
:gn

Lewis
 
Hope you added sorbate to prevent refermentation. Your wine needs to clear and age. Don't rush things.
 
one more thing...maybe i'm triyng the wine too early, it hasn't even cleared yet , still full of sediment etc and maybe that contributes to the rocket fuel taste????
 
Time lines in kits are only there as indicator, I monitor my wines everyday. Sometime, because of all kind of factors but mainly temp, wine will ferment slower or faster...you need to keep an eye on it.
Are you sure the instruction didn't say DAY 10 instead of 10 DAYS? Theres a 7 days difference there...;)

Let it clear, you should be allright! The bad taste is probably ferment that still left in suspention in your wine, stabilise, degase & clear it, if it's still bad, let it age a bit but I'm ready to bet it'll be just fine!!

I made many of those just like you did (spiking them up to 1.080 sometimes!) and they were always very drinkable right after bottling (during bottling even :) )

Good luck!!!
 
Keep us posted on what is going on with your wine please. I just started making this kit about 5 days ago and my sg right now is at 1.025. I'm waiting for it to get a little lower before I rack to my secondary. I also added 4 pounds of corn sugar to this kit to bring the starting SG up to 1.074. I would like to see what happens with yours in the future.
 
Thanks for the advice BigJeff.

I'll definately keep you all updated and maybe we can trade notes Pightr!!

I'm not going to taste now until after clearing has finished which should be in around 14 days...so we'll see!:m

Speak later!
 
Thanks for the advice BigJeff.

I'll definately keep you all updated and maybe we can trade notes Pightr!!

I'm not going to taste now until after clearing has finished which should be in around 14 days...so we'll see!:m

Speak later!

Absolutely! I will keep you posted as well. I am transferring to secondary as of today and then waiting for it to ferment dry. Hope yours goes well I can't wait for mine!
 
Hi guys

I did what i said i wouldn't do - and tasted it again today!

OH MY GOD! I can't believe it. It's absolutely stunning! I can't believe in just a few days the flavour has altered so much and it is so fragrant unlike before where it just smelt of petrol.

Beautiful!
 
Hi guys

I did what i said i wouldn't do - and tasted it again today!

OH MY GOD! I can't believe it. It's absolutely stunning! I can't believe in just a few days the flavour has altered so much and it is so fragrant unlike before where it just smelt of petrol.

Beautiful!

That is great to hear!! and makes me a lot more anxious for mine which I just transferred into the secondary yesterday. Can't wait to try it and I'm very glad it has worked out so well for you!

Also I'm just curious do you know how much sugar you added to this kit? And what type of sugar you used? I used corn sugar and added 4 pounds of it to mine.

Another side not I'm just curious about when you transferred to the secondary did you have a lot of foam? I don't know if we will have like stories on this one because your's was pretty much done fermenting in the primary in 7 days but mine is continuing to ferment in the secondary and has a good amount of a foam layer on the top of it as of right now in the second day.
 
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Hi Phitr

Yes I cant believe it either! The SG was around 1040 when we started which was basically juice, so we thought we'd jack it up to around 1065 which seemed not too high as to turn it into rocket fuel.

We ended up adding around 350g of additional sugar (approx 56g of sugar to increase SG by 0005) Adding that additional 350g took the SG to 1062.

I've actually just ordered the Black Cherry Cabernet in the Island Mist range to try next - really cant wait, and we're thinking of jacking up the SG to around 1085-1090 this time!

Let me know how you get on!

Chat soon
Lewis:try
 

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