WineXpert Island Mist Blackberry Cabernet

[lhunkele]

Just did my first bottling today, Island Mist Blackberry Cabernet. Overall I'm kind of disappointed, I know the mist kits are a light wine, but for some reason I was expecting more... All in all, it's fine, it has a nice flavor, sweetness, it's just so 'light', not much body to it... Any chance it will improve, or is this as good as it gets?

 

[Wade E]

Its as good as it gets. The smaller the amount of juice to a kit the less body you will end up with. Its why I only make the "Big" kits when I make a kit.

 

[BobF]

Linda -

I bottled half of my BB Cab T-Day morning. I'm not really disappointed - I was expecting quick, cheap wine to drink while better wines finish.

One 'mod' I did was to add 3# of sugar. The other was to rack more than the instructions called for and top up with a cheap Cab Sauv - a $3 bottle of Oak Leaf.

All things considered, I think it's a decent cheap-and-fast drinker that everybody enjoys.

Next time I'll add 5# of sugar and the Oak Leaf. I think the Oak Leaf added a little something (tannins) to make it a bit more like real wine.

 

[cpfan]

Linda -

I bottled half of my BB Cab T-Day morning. I'm not really disappointed - I was expecting quick, cheap wine to drink while better wines finish.

One 'mod' I did was to add 3# of sugar. The other was to rack more than the instructions called for and top up with a cheap Cab Sauv - a $3 bottle of Oak Leaf.

All things considered, I think it's a decent cheap-and-fast drinker that everybody enjoys.

Next time I'll add 5# of sugar and the Oak Leaf. I think the Oak Leaf added a little something (tannins) to make it a bit more like real wine.

Extra sugar will add alcohol but not body. Topping up with wine is the best thing to top up with, but I doubt that one bottle in 6 US gallons had a very noticable effect.

If you want to add body, read up on the tweaks about bananas and raisins.

Steve

 

[lhunkele]

I don't recall the amount of juice in the Island Mist kits... my next kit is a Vino del Vida (Gewurztraminer) and it says 9L/2.37 wine kit, so I'm hoping it's a step up, but judging by other kits I see, it doesn't look like it's going to be much of one...

Yeah, I wouldn't of minded a bit more alcohol either, what did the 3lbs bring your abv up to?

Hmm, bananas and raisins you say... time to go exploring!

Thanks!

 

[BobF]

Extra sugar will add alcohol but not body. Topping up with wine is the best thing to top up with, but I doubt that one bottle in 6 US gallons had a very noticable effect.

It actually made a noticable difference ...

If you want to add body, read up on the tweaks about bananas and raisins.

Steve

The body is fine for me for what it is.

 

[lhunkele]

Too much or not enought water?!

So I took a bottle of my wine to a local brewpub where they make and serve the same wine for a side by side comparison. Talking with the winemaker we both agreed mine was lighter in color and taste. Mine also has a slight carbination. The thought being 1) too much water and 2) not enough degassing. I know for a fact that we had some trouble degassing, the more we tried, it seemed the more foam we got. The suggestion was next time to transfer to a primary for degassing as the carboy shape naturally funnels the foam up and out...

Now regarding the water, I want to say I was meticulous about measuring the water. to the point where my 6-gal mark was about a pint below what the 6-gal mark on the primary was.

So today I'm getting ready to make another kit and want to confirm the correct volumn of water and lo-and-behold, it appears that the actual 6-gal mark on the primary is correct, and if that's the case, then when I made my wine I actually used LESS water that the kit called for...

Now the kit very specifically says that making it to a full 23 Litres (6 US gallons) is crucital to the functioning of the fining agents and stability of the finished wine. If you make it to any other volumn, it will not turn out correctly, and any problems you may experience may not be solvable.

Is it possible that by not having quite enough water, it came out weeker?

As far as the SG, for the most part I hit the mark all the way through;
Primary 1.048 - 1.052 (1.048)
Secondary 1.010 or less (1.002)
Stabilising 0.996 or less (0.998 verified stability twice)

I'm so confused!

So I'm going to start my next kit and I'm going to add MORE water (i.e. the correct amount) and hope for the best...

UGH!!

 

[Wade E]

I highly doubt that adding less water could make it weaker! When I make these kits I always up the abv with about 3lbs of sugar which also ups the volume meaning I dont use as much water to get it to the 6 gallon mark. It will void the warranty but Ive never had a problem with it fermenting but it usually makes it take longer due to the more sugar to be fermented out.

 

[lhunkele]

...just had a second thought; rather that adding a specific amount of water, what if I add the water until I reach the high end of the recommended SG reading? Primary fermentation for the Vino del Vida Gewurztraminer shoud be 1.074 - 1.090. Oh, I'm liking this plan of attack much better

Stay tuned!!

 

[Wade E]

That is also what I do when making a wine kit by adjusting to a specific gravity instead of gallon mark. Just make sure you are stirring this very well all the time as its harder to mix properly especially using a spoon. i use a drill mounted mix stir to do this and really nail it making ure I get it good and mixed and also a lot of 02 into the must for when i add the yeast.

 

[lhunkele]

Thanks again Wade - so far so good, with the only exception being, now that I've added the yeast and tucked it away, I realized I didn't compensate the SG for the must temperature when taking the reading... from looking at the chart it doesn't seem like it will effect it all that much, a point, maybe two at best...

 

[lhunkele]

I highly doubt that adding less water could make it weaker! When I make these kits I always up the abv with about 3lbs of sugar which also ups the volume meaning I dont use as much water to get it to the 6 gallon mark. It will void the warranty but Ive never had a problem with it fermenting but it usually makes it take longer due to the more sugar to be fermented out.

I know, isn't it just crazy? I've been racking my brain re-reading the directions and pouring thru my notes and I just can't figure out where I went wrong... it is so frustrating!

I'm looking to try the RJS Orchard Breezin Seville Orange Sangria when my primary is free again, I'm going to try your suggestion about adding the 3lbs of sugar. So I disolve the sugar with 1/2 as much water and after it cools, mix it in before adding the yeast, yes?

Do I have this part right; two ounces of sugar will raise the sg of one gallon of wine by .005. So if I add 3lbs to 6gals, that is equal to 8oz sugar per gallon and will raise the starting SG by approx .020?

 

[Wade E]

I dont do math like that! Im an eye baller when it comes to stuff like this and must warn you that some of these kits arent good with the sg jacked up like that and I havent done the seville orange kit. Most of them are way too sweet and need some higher abv to balance them out like the one you did but there are some that are very delicate like a Peach Chardonnay as I wouldnt play with that one. If you do decide to play with the sg on this then I usually do about 1/2 the water and about 2 lbs of sugar and then adjust up from there.

 

[lhunkele]

I contacted Winexpert and it seems to be a result of two factors on my part, fisrt, after fermentation was complete and I racked into the secondary I relocated the wine to the basement where the temps were more stable, but also much cooler (64-67). They told me it is best to ferment all their kits at 74F from start right up to bottling day. As a result of the cooler temps, it held more of the CO2. We did not degas enough. It seems the more we tried the more foam we created, to the extent it was foaming out of the carboy. After several attempts I gave up (next time I will transfer to the primary to degas where I don't have to worry about it over-flowing). So by not degassing enough, '...the CO2 trapped the proper flavors of the fruit, acid, alcohol and tannin can't make their way to the taste buds accuratly...'

This was my first bottled wine and a REALLY good learning experience!!

Bottom line, '...maintain must temperature above 72F (75 is ideal) the entire time you handle it before bottling...' and when they say '...whip the wine until it stops foaming...', take it literally!

 

[Chateau Joe]

I just started this kit today. I went through the initial bentonite stuff the added the concentrate. All toll I added 4 gallons of water to the concentrate and it did not come to the 6 gallon mark. I took a reading and had 1.050. Since that was within the range that was mentioned in the directions I did not add more water. So I could see how people make these seem watered down.

One thing I will concur with, add more sugar. I raise all my Island Mist kits to 1.080 then pitch my yeast. I find that these kits have more flavor and seem to taste less watered down.

 

[mxsteve625]

When I do Green Apple Reisling Island Mist kits I add half the F-pack up front. This increases the ABV and decreases the sweetness in the end.

All that have tried it like it.

 

[jdeere5220]

I shoot for 1.070 myself. We've made all of the Island Mist reds and they are very popular.