New Bee a little help please

[HoneyB]

Hey all I just found this site and I am happy to be here. I am a bit of a new brewer. Last year I made a few batches of beer and a few ciders and wines also.
I have never made Mead so I'm looking for basic recipe. I have 5lbs of clover Honey to start with. How much Mead can I make with 5 lbs? I have a 5 gal fermenter and a 2 and a half gallon. I'm thinking the 2 and a half gallon would be the one to use. After doing some reading here it appears that I will need to add some kind of yeast nutrient. Raisins?
Thanks for any help
HB

 

[Khan]

I have never made Mead so I'm looking for basic recipe.

Might I suggest Joe's Ancient Orange (or a derivative of..I used apples instead of oranges; came out OK at fist, and better with a little age)? that is usually a good start for those of us who are new to the art.
Personally, I try to keep it to 3.5-4lbs of honey to about 3 quarts of water to make a gallon of must for my mead, but I have found that to everyone there is a different taste. I highly recommend that you take advantage of NewBee Guide, if you haven't already, it has a wealth of knowledge in it; and can probably answer your questions before you know that you have any. As for nutrients... well, there are many opinions about that too. I personally use DAP, and a Nutrient blend that has DAP in it (don't really know what else is in it... just know that it works for me)...
I know that someone else with vastly more specific knowledge will come along and guide you better... but at least that's a start for you.

 

[fatbloke]

5lb of honey is a little light for a 2 gallon batch, if you used a wine yeast. That would indeed, need about 6 or 7 lb of honey.

You could, as Khan suggests, follow the JAO recipe using bread yeast, which, I should think, turn out fine (JAO normally finishes sweet). Obviously, not as sweet as a benchmark batch, but if it finished too dry, you could back sweeten it later.

Or if you have some fermaidk or similar, you could still use bread yeast and try it as a tradition style brew, but it would be experimental as to where it actually finishes.

Or you could just get a bit more honey and try a traditional one with wine yeast.....

 

[Medsen Fey]

You could add your honey to enough apple juice to make 2 gallons and end up with a nice cyser. If you take a 3 or 4 packets of bread yeast and boil them in a little water and add to the mix, you'll have enough nutrient.