I have about 10 years of homebrewine experience. I've made both wine and
beer. I've used kits, concentrates, and I also enjoy doing full mash
brewing. I guess I mention this to avoid the "keep everything clean and
sanitized....." posts.

I've only maid one mead. It was a straight mead, with just a little bit of
apple juice and some nutrients added to aid the fermentation. The stuff was
like rocket fuel. The alcohol content worked out to be just above 12%, but
the phenols where sky high. The stuff cleaned all the mucous from my mouth
and throat. Sometimes, the first taste was ok, but the second wasn't
pleasant at all. I would sample a bottle of this occasionally over the
course of several years and it never mellowed out.

I'm not sure what was wrong with that first batch, it didn't taste infected,
and was a very nice clear straw color. I used store bought honey that came
in five pound containers.

Anyway, now I'm a beekeeper and I happen to have several pounds of honey
that I can play with. It's a wonderful wildflower honey and I would love to
make a mead that will show off the full flavor. I'd like a wine strength,
still mead recipe that has a proven success record. I've browsed the net
and I'm tired of the recipes that give a list of ingredients and then state
"this is going to be great!" at the end. Know what I mean?

Anyone on this list have a proven recipe?

I'm going to cross post this to the meadmaking group too.

Thanks,

Wayne