wilkos white wine (chardanay)

onered05

ok iv got a wilko (from wilkinsons) white chardonnay on the go but cant tell if it is fermenting.
iv done everything by the book and its now been five days brewing. my start reading was 13 and after 5 days it is 10
as im a dim wit can someone tell me what this meens and if my brew is actually working... by the way when i took the lid off the fermenting bucket the smell took my breath away..is this a good sign?

HBO_Staff

We've obviously not brewed that particular kit but the rules are the same, it should ferment away once you've added the yeast, and the best way to tell how it's doing is with a hydrometer. The kit instructions may give hydrometer readings you need to try and achieve, we're not sure, but the readings should get lower and eventually stop and stay the same. All small bubbles should stop rising to the surface and this would be a good sign it is finished fermenting. The smell may be strong, but it should not be very unpleasant or smell strongly of vinegar etc, as this would be a bad sign. Once you're sure it's finished fermenting move on to the next step in the instructions, probably sachets to add to it, before bottling later. As with all wine kits it will benefit from being left to condition in the bottles for the flavours to develop. For the best results try the kits with the best quality grape juice, the ones which need no sugar adding are the best, take a look at the Cellar 7 range (30 bottle kits) and Beaverdale (6 and 30 bottle kits);

http://home-brew-online.myshopify.com/collections/all/products/the-house-of-beaverdale-chardonnay-6-bottle

oodave

Hi ya I purchased the wilko 5ltr wine kit last week and came with the same Wine . I had no a activity unt about day 7 now it's going like the clappers .fingers crossed for ya