Default questions on raw honey mead and nutrients

[zosolm]

After reading about and experimenting with different kinds of honey, I have heard that raw honey gives a more desirable taste profile than pasteurised and so have decided to make a raw wildflower honey mead. I use Llalvin D47 and have in the past added a teaspoon of DAP and a few raisins and a little tea for tannin to my batch because I read that this yeast requires nutrients if making mead. I've heard people use Fermaid K, but i'm not too familiar with what this does or if DAP does the same job as it, so here are my questions:

-Raw honey has beeswax and other things in it, so do I need to use more raw honey than pasteurised? (if so, does anyone know a ratio? I was planning on using 1400g for a 1 gallon batch)

-I thought perhaps I would not even need to add my Llalvin as I there may be wild yeasts in the raw honey, would this work? (I do not plan on heating it)

-Aside from 1/2 teaspoon of tea and 20 or so raisins, is this sufficient tannin for the yeasts to cope and other than DAP for nitrogen is there anything else I need to give the yeasts for nutrients? (I usually also boil a teaspoon of cheap dried yeast as I read that dead yeast hulls are good "food" for yeast and add the juice and rind of a lemon to give it the right ph)

-Is there anything extra I have to do with using raw honey? this is my first time using raw, I usually use the stuff off the supermarket shelves so any input specific to using raw would be helpful

My actual recipe planned would be:

Ingredients:
-1400g raw wildflower mead
-1 or 1/2 teaspoon DAP
-1/2 teaspoon of tea
-20 raisins
-Juice and rind of lime or lemon
-1/2 teaspoon Llalvin D47 (or maybe not if I can use wild yeasts?)
-1 teaspoon boiled super wine yeast
-Enough water boiled then cooled to fill up the demijohn

Method:
-Boil super wine yeasts vigorously to ensure they are dead, then add tea and chopped raisins.
-Add rind and juice of lemon
-Allow to cool, pitch into demijohn
-Add honey to demijohn
-Boil water, allow to cool and top up demijohn
-Add Llalvin D47 (if not using wild yeast) and DAP
-Bubble, rack, bubble, rack, rack, bottle
-Drink

 

[fuelish]

I doubt there'd be much difference at all between the raw and the other honeys, weight/volume-wise, unless you can see huge chunks of comb, etc, in there.... 1.4 kilos , just over 3 lbs, is more than enough for a gallon batch. Raisins and boiled yeast will work as yeast nutrient, but I would go with a commercial wine yeast to ensure a proper product - Lalvin 1116 is my "go-to," works well no matter what you throw at it and is pretty tolerant as far as range of fermenting temperatures....wild yeast is a roll of the dice I've yet to try. Also, you might want to hold off on the addition of lemon juice/zest (don't use the rind, the pith will likely bitter it....the zest is what you wanna use) until secondary, or tertiary racking, when primary ferment is over so as not to blow out the flavor, NOT TO MENTION that honey is already an acidic environment for the yeasties, no need to increase the acidity before they get to reproducing and doing their thing....hope this helps a bit. I use commercial yeast nutrient anymore, out of laziness...I think my lhbs had Fermax in stock on my last purchase, it seems to work as well as any other