Any advice on Island Mist kits?

I got to sample one of them sweet wines from Island Mist (some Riesling thing I think) at a homebrew day in GR and I was very impressed! I don't normally like wines, but I could drink this (if there was no beer around!).

I have thought about buying a kit and making some of my own. Mostly because the ladies I hang out with don't like beer, or real beer anyway, but do at least drink party wines. I think they could enjoy this.

I just don't want to make a mistake in doing this, since the kits cost $60! Any tricks to know? Anything I might need before I start? I have the usual homebrewing equipment with 6 gallon carboy and buckets.

No real issues at all. Just be aware to follow the directions. There is an "F-pack" in there, and it's added at the very end to backsweeten. Since it has sorbate in it, if you add it before directed, it won't ferment. I only bring that up, because I remember the old saying, "Real men don't need instructions" and someone here on the forum opened all of the packages and added them at the beginning!

Degassing can be a PITA, so you may want to get one of those plastic "whisks" that fit into your drill. If you do that, start SLOWLY. It will form a volcano immediately until much of the co2 is gone.

My friend loves the "Mango Symphony" Island Mist kits the best, but she's made Kiwi Pear Savignon Blanc, also. They are all around 7% ABV, and ready to drink in about 60 days.

Sounds good. I want something easy that my friends can enjoy, and I think they would enjoy these. I might want to ask them though. I know one of them has preferred Riesling, but another might have evolved into a merlot kind of person.

What I like about these kits is that they are sort of a mix between real wine and wine coolers. The sample I got was even a tad bit fizzy. Just enough to notice.

One other question I have is about sulfites. I know someone who is allergic, and she can't find wine around here without it. She can get it online, but it's very expensive. I believe it would be used to kill bacteria and wild yeast before fermenting, so I assume there must be a way to make homemade wine without it?

Homercidal said:

Sounds good. I want something easy that my friends can enjoy, and I think they would enjoy these. I might want to ask them though. I know one of them has preferred Riesling, but another might have evolved into a merlot kind of person.

What I like about these kits is that they are sort of a mix between real wine and wine coolers. The sample I got was even a tad bit fizzy. Just enough to notice.

One other question I have is about sulfites. I know someone who is allergic, and she can't find wine around here without it. She can get it online, but it's very expensive. I believe it would be used to kill bacteria and wild yeast before fermenting, so I assume there must be a way to make homemade wine without it?

Click to expand...

Yes, you can make wine without added sulfites. However, ALL wine (at least grape wine) has natural sulfites in it. It's just part of the fermentation process. There aren't any real "sulfite free" wines- but there are some low sulfite wines. There are very few people actually allergic to sulfites but if she is, the Island Mist isn't a good choice. There may be sulfites in that "f-pack".

Hi Homer

These kits do make a tasty beverage. No aging required, just bottle and serve cold!
You are right, the ladies have really liked the ones I've made i think 'cause they are so sweet. The apple reisling, peach chard. and the blackberry cab. have all been hits. I keep some on hand to have something on the table while waiting on the "real" wine to age. Good luck!!

Maybe you should consider doing a Welches wine instead, where you can control the added sulfites a bit more. And, they are super simple.

The only thing I noticed about them is their rushed schedule. I know they are made to be fast and enjoyed young but don't feel you have to keep to the instruction timeframe. I've found them a little better to add a week or so to some of the steps.

Nurmey said:

The only thing I noticed about them is their rushed schedule. I know they are made to be fast and enjoyed young but don't feel you have to keep to the instruction timeframe. I've found them a little better to add a week or so to some of the steps.

Click to expand...

I'll keep that in mind. I'm not sure when I'll get around to doing this, but it is something that I'd like to try. Just have to pick when to pull the trigger on $60 kit! It's been a long time since I spend even half that much on a beer kit!

I just finished brewing my first Island Mist kit about 3 weeks ago. It was the White Cranberry flavour. I enjoy it, although its a little sweet. I added about 1/3 of the F-pack in the beginning (though I was aiming for more, it wasn't until the end that I realized that there was still a lot left!). The F-pack makes the wine VERY sweet, so many will add in some of it at the beginning to 1) boost alcohol content and 2) reduce the sweetness. I would also recommend you add in some table sugar at the beginning. I played it safe and added 3 or 3.5 cups. You can add up to 4 without being too worried about the alcohol content.

If you follow the instructions, you will end up with about 5-6% alcohol. Mine is 8-9% and you can't notice the alcoholic taste. Next kit, I'm going to add more of the F-pack in the primary, and add 4 cups of sugar.

$60 isn't too bad - equals about $2/bottle. Considering that up here in Canada, we pay $7/bottle for piss-wine, its a lot easier to justify the price.

Not a good idea to add the F-Pack to the primary due to sorbate. It may hinder your fermentation.

Newbie here has a question!

I don't brew, but my husband does. I am not "beer" person, though I can drink a New Moon or similar if I have too, I am not a quantity drinker. If I want a buzz, I'd rather have 2-3 strong beverages spread throughout the evening than drinking a 6-pack! As I splurged and bought the hubby THREE kegs for Christmas to finally ditch the hassle of bottling, I told him one of those kegs were going to be for something I like. SO my question is, can an Island Mist type kit be put in a keg in the fridge, instead of wine bottles? And how high could he up the alcohol content? I have been known to mix Seagram's Island Coolers with a splash of vodka....can vodka be added to the mix or would that mess up the process?

Sorry if these are silly questions...

-Rhonda

RhondaH said:

Newbie here has a question!

I don't brew, but my husband does. I am not "beer" person, though I can drink a New Moon or similar if I have too, I am not a quantity drinker. If I want a buzz, I'd rather have 2-3 strong beverages spread throughout the evening than drinking a 6-pack! As I splurged and bought the hubby THREE kegs for Christmas to finally ditch the hassle of bottling, I told him one of those kegs were going to be for something I like. SO my question is, can an Island Mist type kit be put in a keg in the fridge, instead of wine bottles? And how high could he up the alcohol content? I have been known to mix Seagram's Island Coolers with a splash of vodka....can vodka be added to the mix or would that mess up the process?

Sorry if these are silly questions...

-Rhonda

Click to expand...

Not silly at all!

Yes, you can 'keg' them ,but the kits make 6 gallons, and the corny kegs hold 5 gallons. But, you could put the rest in a gallon jug!

You can boost the ABV by using corn sugar, but not too high (10% or so). That improves the taste in some folks minds. Or, you could mix in vodka, but since corn sugar is cheap, and the yeast are already hard at work...

Hope that helps!

I botteled a batch of the Green apple Reisling a couple of weeks ago. i added 3 lbs of corn sugar to give a little more kick. Turned out excellent. i only have 11 bottles left out of 27 just follow the directions and it will turn out great.

I have made 4 of them, pear kiwi, wildberry shiraz, kiwi melon and black raspberry.
I use the hydrometer to bring the SG up to 1.085 using more sugar on the front end and then the entire f-pack on the back end. They end up semi sweet and we love them!

We do wait until they are in the bottle about a month before we drink them.

RhondaH said:

Newbie here has a question!

I don't brew, but my husband does. I am not "beer" person, though I can drink a New Moon or similar if I have too, I am not a quantity drinker. If I want a buzz, I'd rather have 2-3 strong beverages spread throughout the evening than drinking a 6-pack! As I splurged and bought the hubby THREE kegs for Christmas to finally ditch the hassle of bottling, I told him one of those kegs were going to be for something I like. SO my question is, can an Island Mist type kit be put in a keg in the fridge, instead of wine bottles? And how high could he up the alcohol content? I have been known to mix Seagram's Island Coolers with a splash of vodka....can vodka be added to the mix or would that mess up the process?

Sorry if these are silly questions...

-Rhonda

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, you could even throw a whole bottle of vodka in the keg with the batch...have it pre mixed.

RhondaH said:

Newbie here has a question!

I don't brew, but my husband does. I am not "beer" person, though I can drink a New Moon or similar if I have too, I am not a quantity drinker. If I want a buzz, I'd rather have 2-3 strong beverages spread throughout the evening than drinking a 6-pack! As I splurged and bought the hubby THREE kegs for Christmas to finally ditch the hassle of bottling, I told him one of those kegs were going to be for something I like. SO my question is, can an Island Mist type kit be put in a keg in the fridge, instead of wine bottles? And how high could he up the alcohol content? I have been known to mix Seagram's Island Coolers with a splash of vodka....can vodka be added to the mix or would that mess up the process?

Sorry if these are silly questions...

-Rhonda

Click to expand...

First off.... Welcome to the forum!!!!

Next, you must have a good hubby since he is going to share a cornie keg with you! It also sounds like you guys make a good team since you bought the kegs in the first place....

You can increase the alcohol content of Island Mist wines by adding corn sugar on Day 1. Add approximately 2.25 pounds of sugar to the 6 gallon batch. Otherwise, follow the directions as printed. Adding sugar will raise the starting SG to between 1.080-1.085. The wine will finish with an alcohol content of about 11%. The Mist will taste a little more harsh than normal and may take some aging before it is as drinkable as the lighter, regular version. But it will taste GREAT after a month or two....

Kegging your wine is easy but is a bit different than beer kegging. You do not want to carbonate your wine (unless you are making sparkling wine). So, a wine kegging setup will differ in one key respect from a beer dispensing setup — a wine keg will typically use nitrogen gas to dispense the wine. This will require a separate regulator and nitrogen cylinder--which is used for the very serious wine keggers.

However, since you are just getting into the kegging, you probably don't want to spend any more than you have to. If the wine is not to be stored long term under pressure, then CO2 would work fine. Shut off the gas to the wine keg when not in use and release the pressure from the keg using the relief valve. The small amount of CO2 left in the tank should not cause any noticeable amount of carbonation.

You will amaze your friends when you poor them a frosty mug of beer AND a glass of Island Mist out of the same kegerator! Good luck & keep us posted!

Thanks for all of the advice! I will have him read over everything before we order something like that.

I found this online at a couple of retailers (though not Midwest yet, which is the only place we've ordered from...he usually goes to local places...) and it looks good, but kinda pricey.....

http://www.homebrewing.org/Twisted-Mist-Lime-Margarita-and-Pink-Lemonade_p_1950.html

Today was the first "brew day" for him in about a year. He did a Belgian honey and Hank's Hefeweizen, both all-grain from Midwest Supply and last night we started a Vinter's Reserve Riesling (one we both like!).

-Rhonda

Happy Brewing!

RhondaH said:

Thanks for all of the advice! I will have him read over everything before we order something like that.

I found this online at a couple of retailers (though not Midwest yet, which is the only place we've ordered from...he usually goes to local places...) and it looks good, but kinda pricey.....

http://www.homebrewing.org/Twisted-Mist-Lime-Margarita-and-Pink-Lemonade_p_1950.html

Today was the first "brew day" for him in about a year. He did a Belgian honey and Hank's Hefeweizen, both all-grain from Midwest Supply and last night we started a Vinter's Reserve Riesling (one we both like!).

-Rhonda

Click to expand...

Most places I've seen have the Island Mist kits for sale for about $65 or less. I have yet to try this. If I made it for my wife and her friends I would have to up the alcohol. They have been moving away from the lighter wines, even though they still prefer the sweet wines (At least my wife does), but this is more like a wine cooler.

The Green Apple Riesling is probably the most popular flavor, but I see they have a new flavor now: Raspberry Peach Sangria. I'm looking to try that one because I think it's possibly a bit less light and I know my wife like's sangria.

So I finally picked up the IM kit and am getting ready to mix it up. I've read to add 2-3 lbs of sugar to boost the ABV, but the plan is to have it ready by like June for a friend's birthday, so I'm afraid if I mix it up too high it won't be any good by then.

Yes you can add the extra corn sugar and still go by the dates in the instructions

I bottled this green apple island mist added three lbs. of corn sugar turned out real good

The Mist kits are too sweet for me, which prompted me to put vodka in my first few batches too. After that, I've been using about half the flavor pack and adding it to the initial juice to let it all ferment. This gives a higher alcohol content and less sweetness at the end. And of course as mentioned, you could add more corn sugar too.

I keep my wines and mist wines in kegs, however there is a tricky thing about them, and that involves the gas used to push the wine out of the keg. As Rickochet mentioned, use those methods to push the wine from the keg, or you can keep the keg out in a high place and use gravity feed to fill a container and keep the co2 to a low psi to only fill the volume being taken out. This is really the most useful when filling a pitcher to put into the fridge, or if you have a high set kegerator/keezer. If your taps are higher than the keg, it wouldn't work. (Currently, I keep my misttype sangria in a keg out of the keezer and set it up top and fill a pitcher and stick it into the fridge, adding a bit of extra fruit for looks and extra flavor, when I have guests.)

Also, don't forget that you should use either the plastic picnic taps, or stainless steel shanks and taps so that the acidity of the wine doesn't affect them. With crome plated brass, the acidity will eat away at the chrome and the brass.

Well, after sitting a couple of months I finally decided to pour out the 1/2 gallon of wine that was sitting by the kitchen window. It was the left overs from the batch of Sangria. But first I decided to take a taste...

NICE! It's surely a light wine, but it did not end up watery, like the tastes I had when I racked it last. I didn't put the full sweetening pouch in, because I thought it would be too sweet and it's just right. I might want to add a bit more sugar next time, as it has virtually zero alcohol flavor. Or I might try an upgrade product if I can find a quality kit for a wine my wife and her friends would like.

Just added a hand-held corker to my cart. It got some pretty decent reviews and it's cheap. For as much wine as I'll likely make in a year, it should do well (Especially with the rubber mallet I have in the garage!)