I have been making honey mead for a while now. I used raw unpasteurized honey in 3kg pails from a fairly local farmer. Keeping the honey in a natural state keeps all the wonderful flavour of the honey in your mead. It makes your mead healthy. Honey does not require pasteurization, it is a natural antibiotic and antiseptic. The vitamins present in honey are B6, thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and certain amino acids. The minerals found in honey include calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc. Honey also has antioxidants. Most of these are destroyed if the honey is boiled.
I do 25 litre ( a touch more than 5 gallon) batches.
6kg honey (13.25 lbs)
They yeast is up to you.
Lavalin 1118 makes a strong mead up to 19% alcohol, nice stuff, but has vapour trails, removes panties fast!
Lavalin 1116 is nice to keep more flavour, 14-16% alcohol and turns down the vapour sensation and makes a nice sweet mead.
Do a primary fermentation like beer for 10 days in a pail
Rack it into GLASS carboys for 3 months
Rack it into GLASS carboys for 3 more months, the air lock will bubble the WHOLE time! When it stops...
Bottle it.
Let it rest for at least 1 year. It will be as clear as liquid gold.
I keg it and carbonate it. WoW! Good stuff!
Add 1/4 glass ice
1/2 Honey mead
1/2 Ginger Ale
perfect on a hot sunny day....