Wine Cooler?

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BigKahuna

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Has anyone made, or is it possible to make a Bartles and James type wine cooler...or like a Mikes Hard Lemonade? I don't just want to make cheap wine and mix with sprite, but I don't' want a first class PITA either.

SWMBO says thanks for any help.
 
Search around, the topic comes up a lot. There are a lot of recipe's floating around, but from what I have read it looks like dme is a good idea. Most who have tried to do a more wine oriented drink didn't have it come out as nice. But some have, so just look around and try a recipe that sounds promising.
 
One thing to consider is an "Island Mist" kit. I've only tasted them a few times (I'm NOT a sweet wine lover, or a wine cooler drinker) and I think they are ok. I had a sample of one that was a kiwi something other and I thought "Oh, wine cooler" when I tried it.

Those kits make 6 gallons of easy drinking wine-like drinks. My 18 year old daughter thought they were great to taste! Here's a link to some of them for sale: http://www.leeners.com/winecoolers.html
 
Well, we just finished adding the "F-Pack" and degassing. This stuff is weird. I'd love an extra bag of that flavoring.
The problem is that we just killed all the yeast and added sugar to 1.010. Guess I'll be getting a keg system to try and carb this. I was really going for Bartels and James here.
I think the taste will be ok though.

I guess I know the answer to this question, (Just don't want to accept it) but:

Any Suggestions?
 
If you added an F pack my guess is that you bought the Island Mist kit. (I just put the Mango Citrus kit in the primary last Wednesday) Anyway, I was wondering if this should be carbed as well, but according to the instructions, it appears not as everything needs to be removed by the clarifiers. If it tastes as good as all that stuff smells, I don't think we'll need carbonation.

I'm just going to slap the stuff in bottles and see how it is without carbonation. Since I am still getting my fridge conversion done, I don't have much choice with this one, but may be able to test a small batch somehow by emptying a few of the bottles. (things could turn out bad)
 
Did the Island Mist Blueberry Pinot Noir a while back. SWMBO wanted a wine cooler but I thought it was more of a thin wine than a wine cooler. she ended up mixing it with sprite. I tried force carbing one bottle with a carbonator but then she said it wasnt sweet enough and like it non carbed with sprite better.
 
Nurmey said:
How about a Soda Quick machine? It carbs a bottle instantly but I have no clue how it would be to carb your wine. You did ask for suggestions. I found a site that talks about them.

http://www.naturemporium.com/english/Sodas.asp
Thanks. I did ask for suggestions. I think for the money...I'll get a keg kit....in the name of SWMBO. Man...All you brew chicks deserve a guy like me. :D
 
Wine coolers are sweet, carbonated wines. Unfortunately for people who bottle condition sweet and carbonated are mutually exclusive without the use of artificial sweeteners (which taste horrible to me).
If you add sugar or juice to sweeten wine with active yeast then the yeast will convert it to CO2 and alcohol and make the wine dry again (and bottle bombs if you bottle it). If you kill the yeast before adding the sugar then there is no way to carbonate.
This is one reason it is difficult to recreate a wine cooler.
The only solution is kegging and artificial carbonation.

Craig
 
What do you all think about making a sugar wine? Prime it and put it in beer bottles to carbonate. Add a concentrate when you open up each bottle. Should have good flavor and some carbonation as well.
 
...if you use beer bottles and caps, why not use the heat pasteurization they talk about in the cider forum? I'm on my phone, so linking is a PITA, but it's a sticky in the cider forum...
 
I have recently made a strawberry lemonaid cooler type drink that I back sweetened with lemonaid koolaid with sugar, bottled for one day and then ran the bottles through my dishwasher on sani-rinse setting to bottle pasturize. I ended up with a nice carb level and lots of residual sweetness.
 
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