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Your SG increased, so it would seem like you didn't fully mix the honey and water together, and that your yeast didn't really take off. Was it really old? More of your procedure and ingredients might help others give you better info.

Rack it again and let it sit for a few more weeks. That might help it clear.

I have a lees stirrer now, but before that I would swirl it if in a carboy, and just use a big spoon to fold it over if in a bucket

It's all up to you. Some people prefer fruit in primary. Others fruit in secondary. Still others do a combo. There are different flavor results between the two. You would get more of the raspberry flavor from adding fruit to primary, but in the primary it will add nutrients for the yeast, and...

If you are only doing a 1 gallon batch, I'd suggest using a larger vessel for primary (bucket is my preferred primary) especially if adding fruit to primary. If you jam everything into a 1 gallon jug you will get a big messy explosion. Also, what type of mead are you wanting? Dry, sweet...

Maybe check antique stores? Was in one near me and the guy said he had a couple kegs in the back.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/for/1617548895.html

Would depend on how much vanilla presence you'd want. I usually see recipes calling for 1 or 2 beans. How much exposure time will also affect the flavor extraction.

It could be that the yeast are just attaching themselves onto it

Next time primary in a bucket, with a clean, sanitized towel over it, or if you're worried about keeping it open (enough CO2 is being produced to create a type of barrier) then lid it. Larger opening = less of a shaped charge/geyser generator since the escaping gas has more area to leave from.

http://http://www.organic-vanilla.com/servlet/StoreFront They seem kind of low on inventory right now, but I've bought from here a few different times. VERY well priced, especially after going into a grocery store and looking at the price of a single bean http://www.thespicehouse.com/...

I, too, do the scrape split and chop. The flavor really comes from the seeds inside the pod. I add beans to secondary. Pretty sure that the flavors are best extracted by alcohol

Keeping that must in the airlock would be a bad idea. The point of the airlock is to keep undesirable nasties out of your must. With the sugary water mix in your airlock, the nasties you are trying to avoid could take hold and get into the must if you have suck back.

Good luck aerating that coffee mead. What type of coffee, and how much per gallon did you use? Did you cold steep it? I'm wanting to make a coffee mead maybe this year, but it's way down the list, and so I've slowly been trying to figure out what type of bean to use. So far I've crossed Kenya...

I made a cherry wine a couple years ago that I used 71B in. Was really happy with the results. I bumped the OG up to 1.100. It ended up at 1.010 and I think it was just right. It was a little thin bodied and could have used something more, but it was only a 1 gallon test batch. I made a mead...

If you're worried about the oak overpowering you could either start off with less oak, or expose it for a shorter period of time. Just be sure to start taking small taste tests after a couple weeks to test where it's at. I think the oak would mingle in with the floral notes and make the aroma...

In your original post also mention wanting to have some residual sweetness and priming and bottling? Sparkling meads with residual sweetness are really tricky to do without force carbing, and you'll be risking making grenades. This looks really similar to a recipe on GotMead. In the latest...

It's listed at 14% but can, and often will, go beyond that, especially with fruit in the equation and proper fermentation management.

The hot could be from the cloves, and the fact that it's a month old. I'm guessing it went dry? How is the citrus, combined with the lack of sweetness? I've had to backsweeten a couple of citrus meads that went dry. Was way to tart/bitter, and that seemed to accentuate the burn.

I used 2 oz of French Heavy cubes in a tertiary carboy when I made it. I kept the fruit in, punching down the cap daily, for a couple month, and then racked the mead into a glass carboy on top of the oak. I did my primary and secondary in plastic buckets. If you decide to use chips instead of...