Making Mead

This is easy.  When will it be done?!?!
My latest brewing experiment is making Mead.  Mead is pretty much the oldest known fermented drink.  I think it dates back at least 8,000 years.  The Vikings drank it.  So, did the Egyptians.  It was BEOWULF's drink of choice.  If it is good enough for Beowulf, it is good enough for me.  It is also pretty damn easy to make.  Water, honey and yeast.  Oh, and a lotta time just letting it sit around.

My goal was to make a 2 gallon batch of a dry mead.

Ingredients
2 gallons of water
6 lbs of honey
Irish Moss (optional)
A dry mead yeast by Wyeast
Yeast nutrient (optional)

I heated one gallon of water to a simmer in a large stainless pot.  I then removed the pot from the flame and slowly poured all the honey.  You must stir pretty quickly so that none of the honey gets burned on the bottom of the pot.  Put the pot back on the stove and bring to a boil.  I only boiled the honey water mixture for 15 minutes.  With 10 minutes remaining, I put a little bit of Irish Moss into the pot.  It is not necessary, but I had some from making beer.  Irish moss is a kettle coagulant.  Basically, it clears up your liquid.  It works wonders, too.  After the boil, you cool your honey water down to about 85 degrees.

Ha.  There are a lot of things going on in this photo.

The other gallon of water can be poured into your fermenter.  Next, pour your honey water mixture in the fermenter.  Shake and swirl liquids together.  Put in your yeast and the nutrients.  Then, put an airlock on the fermenter and put it in a dark place for a long time. I really don't know how long it will be in there.  I have read articles where people wait an entire year before bottling.  Well, that won't be me.  I think I will wait until it gets clear. I hope that is only a few weeks.  I will let you know.  The plan is to split the batches up.  One gallon, will not be messed with. It will just be a dry mead.  The other...I may add some spices to it.  Maybe some cinnamon sticks....or drop a vanilla bean in the fermenter for a few days.   That is still a couple weeks down the pipe...