Sweet spiced mulled cider query

[JWMG]

I've been making cider for a while now and all has gone well, and have now decided to make a sweet spiced mulled cider for christmas 2015. My question really is about scalling up. I intend to make a five gallon batch but the recipe I have is for one gallon. The recipe is as shown below and I just want to be sure that I can just scale up by five or if some ingredients should not be scaled up so much. Any feedback would be appreciated.

1 pound honey
1 vanilla bean
3 cinnamon sticks
2 cloves
2 star anise
zest from one orange
2 campden tablets
1 1/2 tablespoons liquid sweet mead yeast
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 teaspoon acid blend
1/8 teaspoon tannin

 

[bernardsmith]

I would think that most ingredients are scaled up by five but I would be very wary about scaling up any of the spices by the same order of magnitude. Cloves, for example are likely more pervasive than you might think... and acid blend is not really - in my opinion - an ingredient as much as it some thing to repair a problem.. If your cider is not sufficiently tart then you may want to add acid blend but a) you add this at bottling and b) you add the amount you need rather than a fixed quantity...

 

[JWMG]

Ok thanks. Based on that I think maybe I'll just do a gallon and hold off the acid blend Until later. After all its a project designed to be a Christmas treat so I don't really need five gallons I was just thinking about making the most of the carboy.

 

[bernardsmith]

Not sure I fully understand. A five gallon carboy is not suitable for a one gallon batch. there is simply too much headroom and so if you are serious about aging your cider then it will tend to oxidize by Xmas. You want to fill any carboy you have right up into the mouth of the vessel - perhaps an inch or so below the bung.

 

[DaMonkey]

1 pound honey
1 vanilla bean
3 cinnamon sticks
2 cloves
2 star anise
zest from one orange
2 campden tablets
1 1/2 tablespoons liquid sweet mead yeast
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 teaspoon acid blend
1/8 teaspoon tannin

3-Gallon Batch I made had 3 cinnamon sticks and 2 cloves. Everyone says fewer are better for cloves. Maybe double everything except the cloves. Maybe 3 cloves. That's my suggestion. You can also add more to the secondary if you are aging it that long and it doesn't taste spicy enough.

 

[JWMG]

Sorry bernardsmith didn't make my self clear I meant that I would use the 5 gal carboy for primary and then rack off to a 1 gal demijohn, but again thank you for your input. In the meantime I have spoken to a friend of a friend and their advice matches with DaMonkey in that scaling up is fine with the exception of the cloves and also as advised by bernardsmith hold off of the acid blend and check after to see if it's needed. I think I have my plan set now. Thank you both for your help.