wilko's rose

[Haydnexport]

Hi ive recently , last 4 batches , have had very poor results using this kit , i have made at least 10 to date that was very nice. The bad ones look a lot darker after they have finished fermenting and have a very strong , even bitter taste. Looking back through the diary i have used the same bottled water , same sugar and they have fermented in roughly the same time. any idea's what's going wrong because i'm not going to buy anymore unless i can fix it.

[Horden Hillbilly]

If you've done exactly the same on each kit & they've changed, maybe the kit itself has been changed.

[Haydnexport]

could be , they seem a lot darker after fermenting and the funny taste comes on well before its fermented out, my gf likes it a bit sweet so ive been trying to catch it at 1.010 gravity and adding the stabilizer but even at 1.020 you can taste it coming .

[Wherryman13]

Hi Haydnexport
ref the Wine kit enquiry:
I have been in touch with our supplier and I can inform you that the only change made to our kits has been the addition of a preservative within the liquid ingredients of the kit. The stabiliser sachet that is added prior to adding the finings is also a preservative which is added to kill off any residual yeast cells and stabilise the wine, this has always been included in the kit.
In order to remove excess Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) the instructions state that by regularly shaking the demijohn over a 24 hour period the unwanted gases formed during fermentation will be removed.
If this is not done thoroughly then it can lead to unpleasant flavours and aromas as a result of the preservative not being fully driven off. As with all commercial wine allowing the open bottle to breathe for 30 minutes before drinking will improve the taste by allowing any residual SO2 to dissipate.

Hope that helps
regards

WM13