I have started my Island Mist Peach Apricot Chardonnay on Sunday. As of
yesterday (Tuesday) there was a full yeast cap on the liquid. Today
that cap has disappearred(dropped?). My question is: the instructions
indicate measuring the S.G. each day, but there is no mention of
stirring. They instruct leaving the mixture in the primary bucket for
4-6 days until S.G. stabilizes. Does this sound right?

Just did an Island Mist Exotic Fruit White Zinfandel. Followed their
directions exactly and it came out tasting fantastic. I'd recommend
sticking to the directions.

Also, read in Winemaker magazine an article about kits. They report
that you should stick to the manufacturer's directions.

That may be my next Island Mist. Let us know how it turns out.

Greg

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 17:02:40 -0500, Dennis Montey
> wrote:

>I have started my Island Mist Peach Apricot Chardonnay on Sunday. As of
>yesterday (Tuesday) there was a full yeast cap on the liquid. Today
>that cap has disappearred(dropped?). My question is: the instructions
>indicate measuring the S.G. each day, but there is no mention of
>stirring. They instruct leaving the mixture in the primary bucket for
>4-6 days until S.G. stabilizes. Does this sound right?
>

Greg Smith

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The peach apricot chardonnay is a real delight. Can finish as a light
summer wine or carbonate to make coolers. My groupies prefered the
latter.

That was good article BTW in Wine Maker Mag (Jan 2003 I think)

Is it a fairly sweet finish? The Exotic fruit White Zin is very
sweet. Almost too sweet. I'm thinking of the Peach Chardonay because
I love peach. But am also thinking of the Green Apple Reisling.

To carbonate it do you force carbonate? What do I need to start doing
forced carbonation?

Greg

On 16 Oct 2003 01:42:21 -0700, (glad heart) wrote:

>The peach apricot chardonnay is a real delight. Can finish as a light
>summer wine or carbonate to make coolers. My groupies prefered the
>latter.
>
>That was good article BTW in Wine Maker Mag (Jan 2003 I think)

Greg Smith

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(Greg) wrote in message news:<3f8f118e.1307534@localhost>...
> Is it a fairly sweet finish? The Exotic fruit White Zin is very
> sweet. Almost too sweet. I'm thinking of the Peach Chardonay because
> I love peach. But am also thinking of the Green Apple Reisling.
>
> To carbonate it do you force carbonate? What do I need to start doing
> forced carbonation?
>
> Greg
>
> On 16 Oct 2003 01:42:21 -0700, (glad heart) wrote:
>
> >The peach apricot chardonnay is a real delight. Can finish as a light
> >summer wine or carbonate to make coolers. My groupies prefered the
> >latter.
> >
> >That was good article BTW in Wine Maker Mag (Jan 2003 I think)
>
> Greg Smith
>
> Remove "spamblocker" to e-mail


No, it was not too sweet. Goes down [almost too] easy. Is sweetness
not a function of how you finish the wine? What was your SG at the
end of fermentation? If it was lower than .995 for example it
wouldn't be too sweet regardless of the base.

Carbonation: to be honest I'm not sure. My supplier carbonates and
bottles for me for $10 a carboy. I know you can rent the equipment to
do it yourself.

While this is true normally, the Island Mist kits have you add in
Sorbate to stop renewed fermentation. You then add in another bag of
concentrate. Leaves a pretty sweet product. And at about 7%, not
really a wine, more of a cooler.

Greg

On 16 Oct 2003 23:57:07 -0700, (glad heart) wrote:

(Greg) wrote in message news:<3f8f118e.1307534@localhost>...
>> Is it a fairly sweet finish? The Exotic fruit White Zin is very
>> sweet. Almost too sweet. I'm thinking of the Peach Chardonay because
>> I love peach. But am also thinking of the Green Apple Reisling.
>>
>> To carbonate it do you force carbonate? What do I need to start doing
>> forced carbonation?
>>
>> Greg
>>
>> On 16 Oct 2003 01:42:21 -0700, (glad heart) wrote:
>>
>> >The peach apricot chardonnay is a real delight. Can finish as a light
>> >summer wine or carbonate to make coolers. My groupies prefered the
>> >latter.
>> >
>> >That was good article BTW in Wine Maker Mag (Jan 2003 I think)
>>
>> Greg Smith
>>
>> Remove "spamblocker" to e-mail
>
>
>No, it was not too sweet. Goes down [almost too] easy. Is sweetness
>not a function of how you finish the wine? What was your SG at the
>end of fermentation? If it was lower than .995 for example it
>wouldn't be too sweet regardless of the base.
>
>Carbonation: to be honest I'm not sure. My supplier carbonates and
>bottles for me for $10 a carboy. I know you can rent the equipment to
>do it yourself.

Greg Smith

Remove "spamblocker" to e-mail

Hi Dennis,

The lentgh of active primary fermentation depends on room temp. The
cap dropping is typical of that strain of yeast, and the old-timer who
taught me (very well) used this as an indicator of when to rack into
the carboy during hot weather, when you don't let things go out of
control. At 21-24 C, four days is about right.

Stirring--releases CO2. Necessary for the industrial 200L batch to
completely finish fermentation, but irrelevant for an Island Mist kit
with low alcohol.

If you were fermenting in a cool basement and your SG was not going
down I would stir the heck out of it, and it would probably do its
thing a day or so later.

Measuring the SG every day--ummm, I won't give any advice here but for
the first batch or two it's a really good idea.

--Irene

Dennis Montey > wrote in message >...
> I have started my Island Mist Peach Apricot Chardonnay on Sunday. As of
> yesterday (Tuesday) there was a full yeast cap on the liquid. Today
> that cap has disappearred(dropped?). My question is: the instructions
> indicate measuring the S.G. each day, but there is no mention of
> stirring. They instruct leaving the mixture in the primary bucket for
> 4-6 days until S.G. stabilizes. Does this sound right?

Have not tried the Island Mist kits but have made the Niagara Mist
kits (comparable) and have found that adding about 4-5 cups of sugar
at beginning of fermentation to bring SG up to about 1.075 or 1.080
worksk out well. Produces a sweet fruit wine of about 11.5 - 12% alc.
which is more like a real wine and it will age nicely for a year or
more. The higher alcolhol content seems to play u the fruit flavours
nicely. . .

Give it a try!!!!!

(Irene) wrote in message . com>...
> Hi Dennis,
>
> The lentgh of active primary fermentation depends on room temp. The
> cap dropping is typical of that strain of yeast, and the old-timer who
> taught me (very well) used this as an indicator of when to rack into
> the carboy during hot weather, when you don't let things go out of
> control. At 21-24 C, four days is about right.
>
> Stirring--releases CO2. Necessary for the industrial 200L batch to
> completely finish fermentation, but irrelevant for an Island Mist kit
> with low alcohol.
>
> If you were fermenting in a cool basement and your SG was not going
> down I would stir the heck out of it, and it would probably do its
> thing a day or so later.
>
> Measuring the SG every day--ummm, I won't give any advice here but for
> the first batch or two it's a really good idea.
>
> --Irene
>
> Dennis Montey > wrote in message >...
> > I have started my Island Mist Peach Apricot Chardonnay on Sunday. As of
> > yesterday (Tuesday) there was a full yeast cap on the liquid. Today
> > that cap has disappearred(dropped?). My question is: the instructions
> > indicate measuring the S.G. each day, but there is no mention of
> > stirring. They instruct leaving the mixture in the primary bucket for
> > 4-6 days until S.G. stabilizes. Does this sound right?

I just bottled my second batch of that particular kit. I do not measure SD
daily. In MHO the less you handle your wine the better. The kit comes out
great. I particularly like to get out a bottle when someone tells me they
don't like wine. It always proves them a liar.

Ray

"Dennis Montey" > wrote in message
...
> I have started my Island Mist Peach Apricot Chardonnay on Sunday. As of
> yesterday (Tuesday) there was a full yeast cap on the liquid. Today
> that cap has disappearred(dropped?). My question is: the instructions
> indicate measuring the S.G. each day, but there is no mention of
> stirring. They instruct leaving the mixture in the primary bucket for
> 4-6 days until S.G. stabilizes. Does this sound right?
>

I don't particularly like dealing in volume measurments. After all, a
cup of confectioner's sugar would be heavier than a cup of cane sugar,
right? With the smaller grain size. So, does anyone know of a
formula to determine the approximate weight of the sugar that needed
added?

Of course, I could always measure out 4 cups and weigh it. Might just
have to do that. Thanks.

Greg

On 20 Oct 2003 15:06:57 -0700, (Frank) wrote:

>Have not tried the Island Mist kits but have made the Niagara Mist
>kits (comparable) and have found that adding about 4-5 cups of sugar
>at beginning of fermentation to bring SG up to about 1.075 or 1.080
>worksk out well. Produces a sweet fruit wine of about 11.5 - 12% alc.
>which is more like a real wine and it will age nicely for a year or
>more. The higher alcolhol content seems to play u the fruit flavours
>nicely. . .
>
>Give it a try!!!!!
>
(Irene) wrote in message . com>...
>> Hi Dennis,
>>
>> The lentgh of active primary fermentation depends on room temp. The
>> cap dropping is typical of that strain of yeast, and the old-timer who
>> taught me (very well) used this as an indicator of when to rack into
>> the carboy during hot weather, when you don't let things go out of
>> control. At 21-24 C, four days is about right.
>>
>> Stirring--releases CO2. Necessary for the industrial 200L batch to
>> completely finish fermentation, but irrelevant for an Island Mist kit
>> with low alcohol.
>>
>> If you were fermenting in a cool basement and your SG was not going
>> down I would stir the heck out of it, and it would probably do its
>> thing a day or so later.
>>
>> Measuring the SG every day--ummm, I won't give any advice here but for
>> the first batch or two it's a really good idea.
>>
>> --Irene
>>
>> Dennis Montey > wrote in message >...
>> > I have started my Island Mist Peach Apricot Chardonnay on Sunday. As of
>> > yesterday (Tuesday) there was a full yeast cap on the liquid. Today
>> > that cap has disappearred(dropped?). My question is: the instructions
>> > indicate measuring the S.G. each day, but there is no mention of
>> > stirring. They instruct leaving the mixture in the primary bucket for
>> > 4-6 days until S.G. stabilizes. Does this sound right?

Greg Smith

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"Greg" > wrote:

> I don't particularly like dealing in volume measurments. After all, a
> cup of confectioner's sugar would be heavier than a cup of cane sugar,
> right? With the smaller grain size. So, does anyone know of a
> formula to determine the approximate weight of the sugar that needed
> added?
>
> Of course, I could always measure out 4 cups and weigh it. Might just
> have to do that. Thanks.

Best thing is to get a postal scale (accurate to 0.1 oz.) or gram scale ,
and do all your measurements by weight.

One 8-oz. cup of granulated sugar is nominally 200 grams (7.1 ounces), but
the actual amount can vary by over 30 % depending how compacted the sugar is
and how full you fill the cup and a few other factors. Weighing it is far
more accurate, even with a poor-quality scales.

My comments re sweetness were not quite right (it was a little while
ago that I made this). I think carbonating to make a true wine cooler
reduces the perception of sweetness, hence my comment that it's not
too sweet. Uncarbonated, the finished product is a low alcohol wine
with about a 03 sweetness regardless of which kit you make. The "F"
Pack is the source for both fruit flavour and sugar. Seems you can't
cut back the sweetness without losing flavour.

Any recommendations on decent gram scales? I've been looking to get
one for a bit, but would like to get some opinions. I'm most
interested in a scale that I can measure my Sodium Metabisulphite or
Potassium. I hate using Campden tablets, but this stuff is too hard
to measure out 1/5th or a quarter teaspoon.

Greg

On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 18:17:24 -0700, "Negodki" >
wrote:

>"Greg" > wrote:
>
>> I don't particularly like dealing in volume measurments. After all, a
>> cup of confectioner's sugar would be heavier than a cup of cane sugar,
>> right? With the smaller grain size. So, does anyone know of a
>> formula to determine the approximate weight of the sugar that needed
>> added?
>>
>> Of course, I could always measure out 4 cups and weigh it. Might just
>> have to do that. Thanks.
>
>Best thing is to get a postal scale (accurate to 0.1 oz.) or gram scale ,
>and do all your measurements by weight.
>
>One 8-oz. cup of granulated sugar is nominally 200 grams (7.1 ounces), but
>the actual amount can vary by over 30 % depending how compacted the sugar is
>and how full you fill the cup and a few other factors. Weighing it is far
>more accurate, even with a poor-quality scales.
>
>
>

Greg Smith

Remove "spamblocker" to e-mail

Greg, I have an electronic gram scale which can readily be purchased on
EBay. Expect to pay in the area of $50-100.depending on what you want. Also
consider making a 10% stock solution of metabisulphite and water. This
method allows you to weigh a significantly larger amount and add it to the
H2O to come up with the stock solution which you can keep on hand for a long
time. I dont use this method, but I know a few here do and can tell you
specifically how to calculate the making and additions that you would need.
HTH
John Dixon
"Greg" > wrote in message
news:3f95c7d4.10976580@localhost...
> Any recommendations on decent gram scales? I've been looking to get
> one for a bit, but would like to get some opinions. I'm most
> interested in a scale that I can measure my Sodium Metabisulphite or
> Potassium. I hate using Campden tablets, but this stuff is too hard
> to measure out 1/5th or a quarter teaspoon.
>
> Greg
>
> On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 18:17:24 -0700, "Negodki" >
> wrote:
>
> >"Greg" > wrote:
> >
> >> I don't particularly like dealing in volume measurments. After all, a
> >> cup of confectioner's sugar would be heavier than a cup of cane sugar,
> >> right? With the smaller grain size. So, does anyone know of a
> >> formula to determine the approximate weight of the sugar that needed
> >> added?
> >>
> >> Of course, I could always measure out 4 cups and weigh it. Might just
> >> have to do that. Thanks.
> >
> >Best thing is to get a postal scale (accurate to 0.1 oz.) or gram scale ,
> >and do all your measurements by weight.
> >
> >One 8-oz. cup of granulated sugar is nominally 200 grams (7.1 ounces),
but
> >the actual amount can vary by over 30 % depending how compacted the sugar
is
> >and how full you fill the cup and a few other factors. Weighing it is far
> >more accurate, even with a poor-quality scales.
> >
> >
> >
>
> Greg Smith
>
> Remove "spamblocker" to e-mail

"Greg" > wrote:

> Any recommendations on decent gram scales? I've been looking to get
> one for a bit, but would like to get some opinions. I'm most
> interested in a scale that I can measure my Sodium Metabisulphite or
> Potassium. I hate using Campden tablets, but this stuff is too hard
> to measure out 1/5th or a quarter teaspoon.

I bought a (new) Escali Digital scale, with a 3 kg (~6 lb) capacity for
about $25 on eBay. It has an LCD display, hold and tare buttons, and
displays the weight in ounces, pounds and ounces, grams, or kilograms. It
works fine for all my measurements for 1-20 gallon batches, and as a postal
scale. Accuracy is +/- 1 gram. If you don't need greater capacity or more
accuracy, I would highly recommend it.

Here are the current ebay offerings:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...query=digital+
scale&query2=digital+scale&search_option=1&exclude =&category0=&minPrice=&max
Price=&ebaytag1code=0&st=&SortProperty=MetaEndSort

>"Greg" > wrote:
> ...a cup of confectioner's sugar would be heavier than a cup of cane
sugar...

In case you don't already know this, don't use confectioner's sugar for
wine-making. It contains some form of starch in addition to the sugar, which
can create hazes and other problems.

I don't use it in my wine making, just as an example. Well, I used it
1 time in an orange wine when I had everything set up only to discover
I had about 1/4 pound of sugar in the house. But I had about 10
pounds of confectioner's sugar. Worked pretty well in that. Didn't
leave any haze or other problems.

Thanks for the info on the sugar and scales, though.

Greg

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 19:11:47 -0700, "Negodki" >
wrote:

>>"Greg" > wrote:
>> ...a cup of confectioner's sugar would be heavier than a cup of cane
>sugar...
>
>In case you don't already know this, don't use confectioner's sugar for
>wine-making. It contains some form of starch in addition to the sugar, which
>can create hazes and other problems.
>
>
>

Greg Smith

Remove "spamblocker" to e-mail