Do you stew the gooseberries with the sugar? I presume that 1.24kg sugar in total? I really like gooseberries but dont see them often. Might have to make do with jam.
I stewed on simmer with grape juice only and poured over sugar. Once I started picking them realised I wasn't going to have enough and should have left them a few weeks more.
Gooseberries...the Englishmans grape. I made some about 30years ago and it was fantastic....turned my mother into a gibbering wreck who was seen face down in a sink, swearing never to drink again!!
I did a gooseberry wine about this time last year using excess gooseberries from my allotment.
If my experience is anything to go by you will need to leave it for many months before it becomes a drink you enjoy.
We opened a bottle at Christmas and wished we hadn't.
But nearly 12 months on it is slowly coming into its own.