Honey Mead

Back in the days of King Arthur they often drank Honey Mead.
I'd always thought that sounded just oh so good, so I decided to make some.
I looked up multiple recipes online and picked a simple one for the first time, although it does have some interesting further info I won't go into right now.
Nevertheless, in it's simplest form Honey Mead is fermented honey, and water, with spices for flavoring. First time through I made two regular-sized canning jars of it, just to check out the flavor. It was OK but will improve with practice. I see lot's of potential.
So, here's my take on it.
(I started this 3/24/13, added the yeast 3/25/13, and now it's 3/28/13.)

Start with Honey.
Anywhere from 1 lb per gallon up to about 5 lbs per gallon.
I went with 10 lbs of Honey and about 3-1/2 gallons of water so that's almost 3 lbs per gallon.

I put  about 3-1/2  gallons of water in a large pot.
Added 6-8 oranges, and 3 lemons, sliced, .

Add spices and bring to a boil for several minutes to sterilize.
Then stir in the honey and cover overnight.

Start yeast in a small amount of warm honey-water.
Cover and allow to sit overnight also.

Filter out the oranges and lemons, add the yeast, and seal.
I don't have a water trap to keep out unwanted bacteria, but if you put a garbage bag on top with rubber bands it will let the pressure off without allowing anything new in.

Let sit and ferment.
Burp every few days when the bag gets large.
This is after 3 days and you can see the bag inflating but it's not a problem yet.
Put it into a cool dark spot and let ferment for at least 2-3 months.

Good luck and enjoy.

Jou Baur