Start with the freshest and most-aromatic, light-colored honey you can find. Up in your area you may find blueberry, or other fruit blossom honey. I wouldn't suggest a dark wildflower for your first mead. You'll probably need about 5 pounds.
Use a container that will hold 2 gallons, or split the fermentation into 2 1-gallon jugs so you'll have enough room. The starting volume will be around 1.3 gallons, but you'll end up with 1 gallon (plus a little) of clear mead as a results
For yeast, I would pick 71B, 1 packet (5 grams).
Spring water - a bit less than 1 gallon.
Fermaid K - 6 grams per gallon (about 1.5 tsp) for a total of about 8 grams. You can use other similar nutrients such as Fermax or Wyeast energizer that contain autolyzed yeast (they will look like tannish powder).
Mix the honey in spring water until the measured gravity is 1.130. This should take just shy of 1 gallon of water. Since volume measurements vary, and the moisture content of honey varies, it is most reliable to go by gravity measurements and not simple recipes of weight and volume which will be inconsistent.
- Rehydrate the yeast in 100 F water for 15 minutes and pitch it in.
- Keep the fermentation temp below 70 F if possible. Your mead will be ready to drink much sooner if you do.
- When you see active bubbling, add half the Fermaid K.
- Open the fermenter and aerate it daily for the first couple of days until the gravity is down to 1.100, then add the second half of the Fermaid K.
-After this you can keep it sealed under airlock.
- Swirl the must daily until the mead is finished and gravity does not drop any more. The mead should finish with a gravity close to 1.025.
- When it is finished rack to a 1 gallon glass jug and keep under airlock. You should have enough left over to put in a PET plastic soda bottle, and squeeze the air out and put on the cap. You'll use this to top up later.
- Let it sit a room temp to de-gas and clear
- After about 4-6 weeks, rack you batch off the lees to another container and use some of the left-over mead in the plastic bottle to top up, and keep it under airlock.
- Let is clear for another 2-3 months, or until you get a layer of lees of 1/4 inch then rack and top up again. (your PET bottle is probably done by this point).
- Let it clear until you can read fine newsprint through it, then rack and bottle.
- Adding a Campden tablet is optional after the first racking, but I like to do it for sweet meads.
That should give you a nice sweet mead. If you find during the process that it is not sweet enough, please feel free to add more honey to suit your taste; just let it clear afterward.
There are many variation to the process that can be used, but this will work well in most cases.
I hope that helps.
Medsen
