Fast Fermentation with an island mist strawberry white merlot kit

[edwardsvinyard]

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!!


Lewis

[edwardsvinyard]

one more thing, perhaps because im tasting it already and its still cloudy, and needs clearing etc that could be contributing to the rocket fuel taste?!

Oh preservatives and sorbate etc have been added!

[Mamgiowl]

TBH I don't make kit wines, but I don't suppose there's much difference between these and so called country wines.

The first thing is fermentation times. These are guidelines only as much depends on ambient temperature. If it's a bit cold the wine will take longer and a bit warmer the converse will happen so don't panic about that.

If the OG was really only 1040 I can't honestly see what harm there would have been in adding sugar to 1065, as even that is on the low side.

I think perhaps you are judging it too soon and should let it age for a while and taste again in a month or two when it will likely have calmed down.

As I said I have no experience with kits and all this (except for the temperature bit) might be well off the mark, but if so someone will correct it all for you.

[Rich]

Wine kits are supplied well balanced with nutrient etc all in. It's more than likely fermented fast as it was in a warm place and the yeasts were happy and got on with it.

What temp did you ferment at?

Flavour: It's still a young wine, tasting it before the flavour pack will taste odd, as it's not meant to be drunk like that. With the flavour pack, it's going to take a little while for all the flavours to integrate and smooth out, especially with the extra sugar addition.

I've made the mist type raspberry merlot a few times, once with extra sugar too. I thought it tasted better with out the extra alcohol, so the next kit was made as per the instructions again.

The extra sugar will make it taste a little rocket fuel like, it should smooth out by summer time! Glycerine may smooth it out a little, BUT more than likely there will have been some in the f pack already. If you add more you risk it starting to taste a bit metallic. I'd bulk age it a while, then bottle it, with a few small bottles to sample over the coming months.

[edwardsvinyard]

Hi Rich

Thanks for the comments, altho I was hoping to drink it before the summer!!

Temp was always around 20-22oC

I'm thinking of maybe adding some Sinatin 17 if it still tastes a bit funky in a few weeks time after clearing.

Apparently, this "ages" a wine and really rounds it off. I've seen rave reviews about it in other wine making forums. Any guys used it here?

[Rich]

Sinatin 17, although a product I haven't heard of appears to be an oak extract type of wine finisher. I wouldn't have thought that an oak profile would have gone all that well with the strawberry flavour. (and I like oak..)

Was this a 6 or 30 bottle kit?

If it's a 30 bottle kit, you could try splitting it down into DJ's and adding your sinatin 17 to just one dj, then you may not mess up the whole lot. A 6 bottle kit will need a bit more precise measuring.

I'd still go for finishing it off as per instructions, then giving it a little time for the flavours integrate, before adding anything else to what maybe fine.

[NorthernWiner]

First of all, the Island Mist kits are designed to be early drinking easy quaffing summer wines. The low alcohol is by design. Jacking the alcohol up is only going to throw it out of balance and require longer aging to bring it back into focus.

I would never add an oak/tannin product like Sinatin to a wine cooler. This product is designed more for grape wine, and if you think your Mist kit is out of balance now, wait until you add tannin and oak into the mix.

Your best bet at this point is to simply leave it alone and let it age for awhile.

[edwardsvinyard]

Hi Guys

Thought I'd give you an update! After saying I wouldn't try the wine again until it had fully cleared, I couldn't help myself the other day!

And WOW!! It tastes amazing! I can't believe that the taste has changed so dramatically by just allowing the F-PACK and all its flavours to mingle with the rest of the wine for a few days.

The petrol-like smell and taste has totally gone, and the first smell you get when opening the airlock is an abundance of strawberry notes. Amazing. The taste is a really sweet straberry flavour to begin with and then on taking the liquid down you get that real "winey" after-taste! (Which I'm presuming is thanks to the additional sugar!)

I was totally blown away and will definately be making more of these kits! (I've actually just orderd the Blackberry Cabernet which I'm really looking forward to! I think I'll be upping the initial SG to around 1080-1090 )

Speak soon all

[goldseal]

Don't forget to pop over to the Kit Reviews section of the Forum and add a thread for this wine

[Richard S]

I have made several of these kits, the blackberry cab and pom zin are my favourites. I tinker quite a bit with these kits and have entered bottles into various comps to get judges feedback. Different comps, different judges but one common comment was "lacks body". I will try to address this the next time I make one.