Recipe I used is for a Melomel witch is a mead made with fruit

ingredients  used
3 lbs wild flower honey
1 pack of d47 Lavin yest
1 tsp yeast nutrients
1 Orange
30 raisins
 1 gallon of water

Steps for putting it all together

 First things first I took all of my lose small items I could fit in the stock pot filled it with water and added 1tsp of one step sanitizer. Next  I filled the the one gallon carboy with water adding one tsp of sanitizer to it. I then let the mixture sit for twenty minutes. During this time I referred back to my book and the net for what to do next. I made one mistake with my adding of the honey. I used a pound and a half more honey then I needed. Shocker that the net failed me lol. In obtaining the correct measurements. If you ever wonder a pint of honey weighs a pound and a half so I only need two pints of honey to a gallon of water. I used four and a half. O well this is a learning process for me.

 After the 20 min wait for the sanitizer to do its job I pored a half gallon of water in my stock pot placing the other half  gallon in the freezer. Bringing the water to a rapid boil for and keeping it there for ten minutes.

While waiting the ten minutes I placed the gallon of honey in a pot of hot water to make for easy pouring. Next I took the water off the heat. Pouring in the honey and adding the yeast nutrients steering the honey with my slotted spoon so the honey did not scorch. I took the half gallon of water out of the freezer and added it to the pot bring the temp down to around one hundred and fifty for and trying to keep it there for ten minutes, this is to kill off the germs that may be in the wild honey. Stirring every so often so the honey mixes well with the water.

Next I took what now is known as a must and the stock pot placing it in the sink adding cold water to the sink until it reached almost the handles of the stock pot. This going to bring the temp of the must down to room temp a lot quicker then just leaving the put siting on the counter un covered running the risk of bugs, germs, or even wild yeast getting in the must. Also during this time I boiled two ounces of water. Then letting  it cool to  around one hundred and nine degrees. Once the water cooled to one hundred and nine or a little lower. I added my yest pack to the water letting it sit until the must finally cooled down to room temp around seventy degrees. I then removed the stock pot from the sink. Letting the water drain out. I replaced the pot with the one gallon carboy placing a funnel in the neck of the carboy and pouring the must in.

 Before adding the yeast I took a hydrometer reading by adding must to the hydrometer tube and spinning the hydrometer to release any bubbles that may have attached to the hydrometer. I still need to do a little more research on reading the hydrometer but this is a pic of the hydrometer in the must filled tube. You can see what it looks like. According to what I saw I should end up with about 16% alcohol at the end of fermentation.

Next I added the cut up orange and raisins  to the must.  I pored the yeast in the carboy shaking the carboy back and forth vigorously for five minutes adding air to the mix  the yeast needs air in order  to ferment properly. I placed the screw on top to the carboy that has a hole in the center of it for the airlock. (A airlock lets the carbon dioxide that the yest puts off  during fermentation escape, but does not let air in.)After the aeration of the must and yest the air lock is placed on the carboy. Outside air is now your wines enemy.