Question: 15 days ago I started a batch of wine from a Wine Kit. I went to measure the SG to begin the next step when I found the wine had a film layer at the top. Anyway I phoned the place that sold it to me and am getting a new wine kit tomorrow.

Before I pour this contaminated wine down the toilet, I am wondering if I could finish the process and distill it? Can I do anything to salvage this ~21L of bad juice?

Here's a picture of the contamination, it looked more like a white film before I poked it with a thermometer then it cracked:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UcUoi.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UcUoi.jpg)

Answer: 
It's about different flavor profiles. One is a cleaner ferment simpler flavor profile, the other offers more complexity. 

Using the open container to catch wild microbes is definitely hit or miss. The best bet for this type of flavor profile is to get ginger bug from an established source (commercially or a fellow ginger beer brewer). A good strong bug will quickly lower the pH of the solution and limit contaminating issues.
I believe the difference has historical implications. Additionally ginger bug is said to have beneficial healthful properties that are absent in the shortcut recipe. It’s supposed to be much more probiotic.

A bug cultivates the yeasts already present on the ginger root meaning that those yeasts are attracted to ginger and will ferment the ginger itself rather than just fermenting added sugar.