Coming from a mead background, I'm not given to much precision with
quantity-of-sulfites. That said, I'm attempting my first grape wine --
the Island Mist Blackberry Cabernet kit. Given that the guys who
made the kit know exactly what's going into it, can I assume
the amount of sorbate-and-sulfite included is sufficient to
protect it for a year or two?

What if I brew this 6 gallon kit as a 5 gallon to get a little
extra oomph out of it? Will I likely need to de-acidify it later?

Thanks!
WB

The kit you chose is a pseudo wine, only a 6 or 7% wine so it is not meant
to age a long time or have a long shelf life. The sulfite and sorbate are
meant to protect it from refermentation in the bottle as it is bottled
sweet. I have made it and it is okay. Do age it for 6 months but then
drink it up by a year and a half.

It is a good wine for people who do not particularly care for wine and as
such has it's place. Do not think I am putting it down. It is what I would
call a picnic wine. A fun wine.

Ray

> wrote in message
...
> Coming from a mead background, I'm not given to much precision with
> quantity-of-sulfites. That said, I'm attempting my first grape wine --
> the Island Mist Blackberry Cabernet kit. Given that the guys who
> made the kit know exactly what's going into it, can I assume
> the amount of sorbate-and-sulfite included is sufficient to
> protect it for a year or two?
>
> What if I brew this 6 gallon kit as a 5 gallon to get a little
> extra oomph out of it? Will I likely need to de-acidify it later?
>
> Thanks!
> WB
>
>
>

I make these kits all the time for my wife, she loves these wines.
I have made them in both 5 and 6 gallons. The wine shop I go to
prefers to do it in 5 gallons because it has more body than the 6 galllons.
These kits are not thrown off too much by only using 5 gallons but it
will be a little sweeter. I personally can't drink too much of a wine
that sweet.

If you want that extra oomph out of it, then add about 5 lbs. of sugar, it
should raise
the s.g. to about 1.090. I have made several of the Island Mists kits and
all have
been made with the extra sugar. I higher alcohol will help keep it a
little longer.
Also I usually add 1/8 to 1/4 tsp meta-k to help keep it longer.

If you get the higher quality kit (16 liter kit) alway make it in 6
gallons.

Scott

> wrote in message
...
> Coming from a mead background, I'm not given to much precision with
> quantity-of-sulfites. That said, I'm attempting my first grape wine --
> the Island Mist Blackberry Cabernet kit. Given that the guys who
> made the kit know exactly what's going into it, can I assume
> the amount of sorbate-and-sulfite included is sufficient to
> protect it for a year or two?
>
> What if I brew this 6 gallon kit as a 5 gallon to get a little
> extra oomph out of it? Will I likely need to de-acidify it later?
>
> Thanks!
> WB
>
>
>

The add packs should be just right for this kit. As mentioned it is
not designed for long aging. Generally suppliers of these mist style
kits say ready to drink immediately. I would allow a month in bottle.

Re changes to the instructions. Due to the sweetness, I would not
make as a 5 US gallon kit, stick to the 6 US gallon size. However, if
you wish to up the alcohol, go for it. I know folks who regularly add
6 cups of corn sugar at the start of fermentation to this style of
kit.

Steve



On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 14:07:54 +0000 (UTC), lid
wrote:

>Coming from a mead background, I'm not given to much precision with
>quantity-of-sulfites. That said, I'm attempting my first grape wine --
>the Island Mist Blackberry Cabernet kit. Given that the guys who
>made the kit know exactly what's going into it, can I assume
>the amount of sorbate-and-sulfite included is sufficient to
>protect it for a year or two?
>
>What if I brew this 6 gallon kit as a 5 gallon to get a little
>extra oomph out of it? Will I likely need to de-acidify it later?
>
>Thanks!
>WB
>
>

"Steve Waller" > wrote in message
...
> The add packs should be just right for this kit. As mentioned it is
> not designed for long aging. Generally suppliers of these mist style
> kits say ready to drink immediately. I would allow a month in bottle.
>
> Re changes to the instructions. Due to the sweetness, I would not
> make as a 5 US gallon kit, stick to the 6 US gallon size. However, if
> you wish to up the alcohol, go for it. I know folks who regularly add
> 6 cups of corn sugar at the start of fermentation to this style of
> kit.
>
> Steve
>
Just a comment on Steve's comments. I have made several of the Island Mist
Kits. The Peach Chardonnay was definitely ready to drink when it was
bottled.but the Blackberry Merlot was a real disappointment when I bottled
it. A month latter I was still disappointed. 3 or 4 months later it turned
into a decent sweet picnic wine. For me, that one took a bit of aging. So
if you do not care for it at first, give it a bit of time.

Ray

I have not tried one of these kits, but find I have no reason to. I
recently made a Blackberry Merlot by adding a 2 oz bottle of blackberry
concentrate to the Merlot after secondary fermentation fnished. I let the
stuff age for almost a year, and the flavors blend quite well.

So instead of choosing a low-alcohol "Arbor Mist" style wine-cooler, I make
a real wine and add the fruit flavors manually. Then I sweeten to taste.


> wrote in message
...
> Coming from a mead background, I'm not given to much precision with
> quantity-of-sulfites. That said, I'm attempting my first grape wine --
> the Island Mist Blackberry Cabernet kit. Given that the guys who
> made the kit know exactly what's going into it, can I assume
> the amount of sorbate-and-sulfite included is sufficient to
> protect it for a year or two?
>
> What if I brew this 6 gallon kit as a 5 gallon to get a little
> extra oomph out of it? Will I likely need to de-acidify it later?
>
> Thanks!
> WB
>
>
>