Feb 2006
Someone gave me an old kit- What should i do?
February, 2006 Filed in: Wine making
Most good manufacturers guarantee their wine kits for a year from the production date. So the first thing you should do is check the production date. If you want to know how our kit’s date codes work, just ask and we will show you, it isn’t rocket science.
If the kit is less than a year old you can make it without any worries. However, if it is over a year old the juice/concentrate you may see some deterioration from oxidizing. Oxidized wines are typically brownish or rusty coloured and will have an off taste. The yeast as well may not ferment the wine.If you have trouble determining the product date from the manufacturer date code (sometimes the CIA might have trouble de-coding them) bring it into our store and we will help you, whether the kit was purchased from us or not.
Note some kit manufacturers, usually those who supply grocery stores use “best before” dates as the grocery stores are accustomed to this practice. The dates sometimes are far into the future because of the addition of extra preservatives.
What do we suggest? Well being frugal, we would suggest make it. Start with a fresh package of yeast, what do you have to lose. However, if you do see signs of oxidation, it is probably not worth the effort.
If the kit is less than a year old you can make it without any worries. However, if it is over a year old the juice/concentrate you may see some deterioration from oxidizing. Oxidized wines are typically brownish or rusty coloured and will have an off taste. The yeast as well may not ferment the wine.If you have trouble determining the product date from the manufacturer date code (sometimes the CIA might have trouble de-coding them) bring it into our store and we will help you, whether the kit was purchased from us or not.
Note some kit manufacturers, usually those who supply grocery stores use “best before” dates as the grocery stores are accustomed to this practice. The dates sometimes are far into the future because of the addition of extra preservatives.
What do we suggest? Well being frugal, we would suggest make it. Start with a fresh package of yeast, what do you have to lose. However, if you do see signs of oxidation, it is probably not worth the effort.