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**StockeyDAW** · 18-02-2008, 08:14 PM

Originally posted by fatbloke View Post

Having got the idea from Scott/Happymondays post about this, I've just been looking at DAW's recipe and was trying to work out the "scale down" to make 1 imperial gallon.

Most of the ingredients are fine, but the Wyeast 4184 is a bit of a PITA to get in the UK (actually google for results "just" in UK seems to point all of the results to winesathome

).

So what might a good alternative be ? D47, 71B or something like that ??? I really like the 71B or the KIV 1116 better than the D47 but the D47 will do; I also really like Red Star Pasteur Red and Premier Cuvee -- all of these yeast will ferment your mead to dry ;

An eighth of a tsp of tannin is quite hard to reduce so how much would be OK? or just go with the same as the 5 gallon batch ??? I understand - ya 1/8 OK - powerful stuff

Bentonite is used for clearing I presume - so what's sparkeloid ?? Is it just a different type of finings ? Or is there some sort of recommended alternative if (as google suggests) that it can't be obtained easily in the UK ???bentonite is excellent both before fermentation and as a fining agent it is great used with sparkalolloid as bentonite is as one is positive attracting and the other is negative attracting (bentonite attracts the negative particles and Sparkolloide attracts the positive particles) - use the bentonite first, stir in carboy well let rest for 1 hour and then add the Sparkaolloid which requires preparation and boiling for approx 15-20 minutes (see directions on the package). The combination of the bentonite and sparkolloid work very well in the clear Mead's or wines - at least that is what I have found. For the dark Mead's and wines I find that the combination of Kieselsol/Chitosan do an excellent job; together they are extremely fast in clearing and adding polish and they do not effect flavor opr bouquet (follow directions you have to use the Kieselsol first stir in wait for a time approx 1 hour then stir in the chitosan). When you purchase check out which one you are buying depending on the brand? some are for red colored wines and some for white. You will have to rack off all the sediment in the bottom of the DJ, be careful as the bentonite and sparkolloid are poor compactors and will move around if shaken to much

The acid suggestion/ingredient, OK I can just use 1 tsp of tartaric, but I didn't understand the bit about using citric as well. Does that mean that I'd use 1 tsp of tartaric and then check the pH, which, if it needs to be brought down further, would be done with citric ???Yes use the tartaric for the adjustment to get the pH at the correct level then before bottling measure both acid and pH and SG - you can then adjust acid levels using the citric or even a small amount of malic- depending on your tastes and at the same time sorbate and sweeten to you taste.

What sort of starting gravity would I be looking for ???[B]I like a SG of 1.090-1.100 - this is your choice. match the yeast with the SG all of the above yeast have alcohol tolerance levels for these SG fermentation requirements.
TVM

regards

JtFB

Cheers Daw hope this helps

**fatbloke** · 19-02-2008, 08:17 PM

Yup, that's brilliant. Thanks very much DAW.

Next stop, Iceland (cheap, mainly frozen food supermarket) for the Strawb's then.

I'll be a scaled down version though, rather than a 5 gallon batch.

regards

JtFB

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