Ethanol 3 (mead)

Day 1 (Dec 31): Started new batch of mead: 24oz of honey in 1gal. Some problems.
- It appears to have been too much honey, since not all of it dissolved.
- The red-star yeast again failed to "head", but again was anarobic within 24 hours.
Day 3 (Jan 2): Fizzing like mad. Far more effervescent than soda. All trace of excess honey is gone.
Day 5 (Jan 4): Same state.
Day 8 (Jan 7): Still going strong. 1 bubble (at least 1cc) every 10s or so. Rate could be twice that.
Day 10 (Jan 9): Fizzing waned yesterday, and continues to wane today. Large yeast sediment at the bottom of the container.
Day 12 (Jan 11): Weak effervescence, significantly clearer solution.
Day 17 (Jan 16): Still bubbling very slightly. Looks almost like apple juice clarity-wise.
Day 22 (Jan 21): Faint effervescence still present. Probably done within 1-2 days.
Day 27 (Jan 26): No fiz for two days. Decanting. The substance is as clear or clearer than storebought apple juice. Sp Gr: 0.994
My vinometer (not a very accurate measure) says it's about 15% alcohol by volume, which is 12% by mass.

Ethanol 2 (mead and cider)

Started two liters of mead and 1 gal of hard cider. Both were bubbling within 8 hrs.

Progress Report

Day 11: Bubbling almost completely stopped. Poured off & sampled.

Ethanol 1 (mead)

I started this on Friday, 21-Sep-2012.

Pretty much directly out of "Caveman Chemistry" for this one:

* 16oz (300cc) of honey
* 1500mL water
* 1 packet of yeast
* Wake the yeast with water & sugar
* Mix in 2L drink bottle
* Cap

Progress Report
Check regularly! The book says "check every day" I'm pretty sure that if I had waited for 24 full hours, the bottle would have burst. There was a slight exhalation after 8 hrs, and after 16 it gave a serious "pop", then foamed & frothed for a couple minutes.
Day 2: Airlock (bought a cheap plastic "inverted cups" airlock and a rubber cork)
Day 4: Bubbled more or less continuously for 2 days (so far)
Day 7: Still bubbling away.
Day 12: Bubbling seems to have stopped. Will check again tomorrow.
Day 13: Bubbling completely stopped. Decanted.

Nota Bene
The ambient temperature throughout this endeavor has been on the order of 80 degrees F, sometimes warmer. This is around 10 degrees warmer than is recommended, which may account for the rapid transtion into and out of carbon dioxide production.