Most of the "other ingredients" is water (around 20%).
In a 5 gallon batch, 20 pounds of honey is about the max that you can ferment dry (using wine yeast), assuming you use a good yeast, and manage it optimally. If you do this you will end up with 1 mead that has about 18% ABV and one that has about 9% ABV. While there are a lot of variable that play into the final results there will be a couple of things you can count on.
1. Higher ABV gives more body, so the 9% batch may taste a bit thin/watery.
2. Higher ABV is going to be "hot" with more rocket fuel character and it may take 2 more years to integrate enough that it isn't burning. You aren't going to be sitting down with a couple of glasses of it at dinner.
3. Higher ABV batch is likely to have more volatile acidity and probably more likely to have some off odors from stressed yeast.
4. You may find that the lower ABV mead develops more honey aroma faster as alcohol masks other aromas and flavors. People often shoot for high ABV thinking "more ABV = more flavor" which is not correct.
5. More alcohol may add more perception of sweetness, but it also tends to accentuate bitterness, again meaning that long aging may be needed for it to smooth out.
When it comes to a dry mead, you can give me the 9% batch any day.
Ah, well I'd agree with most of that Medsen, but in a few cases I'd disagree (or just plain "don't understand), as I've found a few things that have ended up differently.
#1, my higher alcohol batches (whether by design or accident) have often seemed more watery, due I suspect, to the fact that alcohol is "thinner" or less viscous than water. I appreciate that time doesn't reduce the alcohol, but it seems to make something that has a watery mouth feel when young, have more body once it's had time to age/develop - and no, I don't understand why that might be.
#2, completely agree, but you can sometimes mask some, if not all, of the alcohol hot/medicinal taste of a higher alcohol product with back sweetening/acid additions - back sweetening might increase the viscosity, which is logical, but I don't understand why acid might do that as well.
#3, yes, Ok I follow the bit about off odours etc from stressed yeast but don't get why it might have the "more volatile acidity" that you mention.
#4, concur, the only thing that's guaranteed with a higher alcohol mead, is that pound for pound and ounce for ounce, the higher alcohol mead will make you fall over, get hangover, puke etc etc, quicker than a lower alcohol mead ;D
#5, by "perception of sweetness" in a high alcohol mead, do you mean a lack of ? in relative terms. The reason why, is that I've found, that a higher alcohol mead might "accentuate bitterness" is that they tend not to be as sweet or having enough residual sugars to cover any bitterness present (thinking of JAO here, as it seems to me that it's the very sweetness that you get, that covers the bitterness that invariably comes from the orange pith).
I'm not trying to "pick holes", just understand more fully, your answer. Hell, it might just be that more of my meads have been "badly" or poorly made than I thought. Or that I need to make and/or drink more to increase my understanding of the points you raised......
regards
Mr "Not as bright as I think I am"
p.s. What's the Florida weather like at this time of year? given the rubbish grey, miserable damp, post pre-crimbo snow we got, etc etc ?