if you want this dry, you may think about dropping in ec-1118 after the k1v is done. k1v appears to stop around 1.000 with meads. the ec 1118 will bring it the rest of the way down to .990 if that is what you want, but don't add it until the k1v is about done.
Hum ? It might be worth you looking at "
the yeast chart" my friend. You'll notice that there is little difference between the two, if you're just thinking of the % ABV.
Yes, there are slight differences, but if you read the data, you'll see that K1V out scores EC-1118.
Of course, EC-1118 does have it's uses, but the published data, along with Lallemand/Lalvins published description
Lalvin V1116 (K1) was isolated in 1972 by Pierre Barre of the INRA Montpellier. V1116 (K1) tends to express the freshness of white grape varieties. Natural fresh fruit aromas are retained for longer, compared to wines fermented with standard yeast (such as Prise de Mousse). When fermented at low temperatures (below 16°C) and with the right addition of nutrients V1116 (K1) is one of the more flowery ester producers (isoamyl acetate, hexyl acetate and phenyl ethyl acetate). These esters bring fresh floral aromas to neutral varieties or high-yield grapes. Among the high ester producers, V1116 (K1) is the most resistant to difficult fermentation conditions, such as low turbidity, low temperature and low fatty acid content. V1116 (K1) is recommended for the fermentation of icewines. It can also be used for rosé or basic red wines.
suggests to me that just recommending EC-1118 as a possible "cure all" isn't correct.
A lot of home brew shops will just recommend a champagne yeast such as EC-1118 out of ignorance/lack of knowledge, as they seem to think that it must be good to deal with "all that sugar".... It's been found on both sides of the pond that this isn't the best advice, by a country mile.
Practically, K1V is a better yeast for meads, whereas EC-1118 might be the best for champagne variety grapes. Either way, a little research would have shown you that once K1V had been used, then there's little point in trying to add EC-1118. It's very unlikely to work.
Whereas, there's a possibility, that trying to use different yeasts in the same batch to get a more layered and/or complicated flavour/result, then something that "Enhances varietal character" might have been better to use to start with, only to drop a starter of K1V in afterward.
The problem is, is that it's all subjective as all the properties as published, are as found with grape musts, not mead/honey musts.
As for K1V stopping at a specific point/level ? It's capable of 18% if the fermentation is correctly managed, that's a drop of approximately 133 gravity points, whether that's from 1.133 to 1.000 or from 1.123 to 0.990 is irrelevant, because to reach 18% ABV or gravities below 1.000, it's all about fermentation management (they both quote tolerance of 18% ABV, yet it's possible that good management might encourage them to go further, well a little bit anyways).
No criticism intended, just that most of what I've posted here is public domain information - plus there used to be a very well known (in the Bee and honey world - who passed away in the mid 90's) person who used to use the Gervin packaged version (varietal "E") of the montpellier strain i.e. K1V-1116 for his meads. He only started using it, because his preferred strain (the Maury strain, the nearest now is D21) became unavailable. He used the montpellier strain up to his death.
