Re: My forst mead. 12# Linden Honey and a 3 gal carboy ... recipe anyone?
Yo! If you keep the ABV near 10-12% it can be drinkable by X-mas,
but it will be so much better by next x-mas
Keep er simple
#1- sweetness: I'm assuming you want her sweet so I'd suggest aiming it to finish at no less than 1.01, thats semi sweet--some people like them as high as 1.03.
#2- yeasts: I'd go with that Ale yeast or with 71B which will hit ~14 but is noted for aging quickly and well. A fine beginners yeast and still one of my faves.
You'll want to pick up roughly 3 gallons of cider and you'll need between 5 and 8 Lb honey depending on what your doing.
5#'s honey
~2.5 Gal cider
SG 1.101, PA 13.2%
at 1.02 ABV~10% at 1.01 ABV~12%
Whats key here is that the recipe is approximate--if you want a particular SG dissolve honey in cider until you get that SG, recipes and mead calculators will only give you a ball park figure.
#3--Lastly, in case you are unfamiliar with mead practices I would avoid boiling the honey or heating the cider. Heating the cider may cause pectins to set which will make your mead hazy, if you realy want to heat that cider, you can get around the haze by using pectic enzyme.
Good luck
~Z