Okay, so here is my standard recipe that my brother and I settled on after dozens of unsuccessful attempts to create a tasty sweet mead that was ready to drink in a short time, but was more traditional than things like JAOM.
1 gallon batch size
1 qt honey (preferably raw, natural honey, amber color or lighter - no SueBee garbage)
1 cup apple cider (no preservatives) (provides some acid and nutrients)
1 handful raisins (natural source of tannin and yeast nutrients)
1/4 tsp yeast nutrient
1/8 tsp yeast energizer
WLP720 Sweet Mead Yeast (THIS yeast is key to the recipe - I cannot vouch for any substitutions!)
On a stove, heat and dissolve the honey in 2 quarts of water. I don't boil, but I do heat it to just short of a simmer and skim the foamy scum that forms. A lot of this is wax, which is unnecessary and potentially damaging to the flavor, especially if you want to drink it young.
Add the cider while the mix is hot (but not boiling).
Add yeast nutrient, energizer, and raisins to empty fermenter.
Cool honey mixture and add to fermenter (I use a gallon jug). Pitch yeast vial, splash well during addition or oxygenate if you can. Top up to 1 gallon but leave a little space for foam.
Add airlock and ferment around 65-72F. It is critical that you not let it ferment much warmer than that or it will get rough and not be good young.
Let it go for a couple (3-5) of days, check SG. When you are wround 50% attenuation (1.070), add 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient and 1/8 tsp yeast energizer.
It might help to swirl the jug a little every day to help the CO2 off-gas and not build up as carbonic acid, which is detrimental to the yeast, but I've done it without much swirling, and it's turned out delicious.
At this point you basically let it run until it ferments out fully and drops clear. It should take about a month or so. Once it drops clear, I rack it to another fermenter to let it clarify again, cold crash, and bottle. It is quite sweet at this point because the yeast has attenuated as much as it can and then given up. You should have around 12% ABV
Now, that's what I do. Since you want to dilute it, I'm not sure if the yeast will become active again since the alcohol level won't be too high for them. But I suspect if you give them time to fully flocculate, since they have reached their maximum attenuation, they are at an alcohol level that is toxic to them and they will probably die, not just go dormant.
But, steps you can take to reduce the chances of revival are to rack as directed when brilliantly clear, leaving most of them behind, cold crash, and even add a touch of stabilizer (potassium sorbate) when you bottle.
I find this to be delicious at about 6 weeks, or even anywhere along the way. It took a lot of trial and error for us to settle on this recipe but everything else (using other yeasts) seemed to ferment out too far and leave harsh, hot alcoholic taste that too forever to age out. This is good from the get-go.
Good luck! Let me know how it goes.
