Strawberry Honey Mead....Finally!!!!

For a couple of years now I've tried to attempt a Strawberry Honey Mead with no success.  There was always something wrong or something didn't work out the way I had planned for it to work.  The first time I tried, strawberries were not in season and I didn't want to attempt it if the berries weren't the best quality.  The second time I attempted to make the Strawberry Honey Mead, I grabbed a small package of strawberries and cooked the fruit down into a syrup like paste and put that into tea bags to put into the mead.  The result was a normal Honey Mead with absolutely no strawberry flavor or color at all.  The cooked strawberries jellied and never allowed the water/yeast to do anything with it.  After that attempt I asked my local HBS for advice and told the owner what happened.  After she stopped chuckling she said to get any flavor or color out of the fruit when making mead you need to add equal to twice the amount of honey used for your batch size and you only need to cut the fruit, no boiling, cooking, or in anyway mess with the natural properties of the fruit.  I always use the #of gallons = lbs. of honey method so that meant I needed 5-10 lbs of strawberries.
       Four successful batches of fruity mead later, (...Grape Honey Mead, Pear Honey Mead, Mango Honey Mead, and a small test batch of Kiwi Honey Mead.......and yes "we" sliced 10 lbs of grapes...lol) I was ready for another go at the infamous Strawberry Honey Mead.  As a bonus my Beautiful Wife Heather found boxes of fresh Florida Strawberries at a great price and bought me 10 lbs the other day, and brought home 5 lbs of honey as well.
     Attempt #3 was underway, course this time I'm documenting it so if it goes wrong again someone can tell me why.........lets begin......

First gather all your ingredients...

I like to use the cheap bread yeast.  They come in packs of three pretty cheap which means to packs makes three batches of mead.  Second ensure all your equipment is clean and sanitized.

Next I like to add the honey to the bucket.

Because I will be adding warm water to increase the volume as well as help get the yeast rehydrated and going again, I add warm water to the containers of honey to get every last bit of honey out.  Next start chopping up the strawberries.  I just used a regular knife but if you have a sturdy mushroom/egg slicer they work nicely.

Make sure to cut away the stems and leaves and don't add them to the mixture.  They may have some unwanted creepy crawlies you don't want in your mead.  But add the sliced strawberries to your honey.

Once all 10 lbs of strawberries have been chopped and added, fill the bucket with warm water ensuring to leave enough room for yeast suds/head at the top of your bucket.  Then you will need to toss the yeast onto the strawberries/honey/water. 

Two of the three packets is what I use.  Some like to stir it in like I do while others just leave it on top, your choice.  Just remember if you stir, sanitize the spoon first.  Next place the lid on tight and add vodka to your bubbler/airlock.

Only thing left to do is place it in a cool place where it won't be disturbed.  My last house had a perfect closet under the stairs I would use but this new place only has room in the garage.

Five months from now I will be able to open the mead and bottle it.  Once the sediments in the mead settle and the mead clears, it's ready to drink.  Enjoy!