Time is a big thing. Wine and beer can be possibly good in a few weeks. Traditional mead can be brewed for upwards of 5 years depending on which recipe you go with. I'm going with 6 gallons of my Polish family recipe, and it is supposed to ferment for 1 year before bottling and then spend another year in the bottles before you drink it. However, I have no idea what real mead is supposed to taste like since I live in the US and the proper kind of honey (filtered just enough to remove the bigger bits of honey comb, and then left alone) just isn't readily available here.

Anyway the recipe itself is quite simple. You want about 2/3rds water brought to a boil, add 1/3rd solid (not liquid) honey to the boiling water. Mix thoroughly. Add whatever spices you like as it cools (this is not highly optional and somewhat discouraged by my Polish family). Activate the yeast in a separate bowl with water that has been heated to the point where it is warm but not hot (as specific as they could tell me), mix in sugar and a dash of lemon juice. Mix in your yeast. Then mix that concoction into the honey water. Put it in a carboy and let it sit for at least a year.