Quixote wrote:

> I was very lax with record keeping on it. It was enough Texas wildflower
> honey and water to get a spg of 1.110 in a gallon primary. Forget what
> yeast, but it may have been Flor Sherry, as my yeast picks were limited
> then. I did not boil the honey, as I was afraid it might steal some of the
> honey flavor that I love, and so it took some fining. Some bentonite did
> the trick. It also went pretty dry for my taste so I back sweetened with
> just a touch of invert sugar and sorbate. Been in the bottle about six
> months now.

Flor Sherry? Bentonite? Spg? Sorbate? You are too scientific, mate ;-)

I made three 1-gal batches, as I had three jars (linden, forest and
multifloral) to spare. I used one jar (~900g or 2lb) per gallon. Dunno
what the SG was as I only purchased a hydrometer much later. I poured
the honey into boiling water and kept just below boiling for about 20
min. It dissolves better that way. I have read that I was supposed to
skim the froth, but there was not much froth to skim anyway.

For yeast I just used dried baking yeast called Young's from a local
supermarket (UK). No idea what strain. After about a month of primary
fermentation, I racked to a new demijohn with 500g of raisins. The extra
sugar boost from the raisins restarted the fermentation. When it
stopped, I racked again and left alone for a couple more months to
clear. I have no idea how much alcohol is in it, but it tastes quite
potent and smooth even when it is only a few months old.

Here is my first question, before my ISP wakes up and gives me
rec.crafts.meadmaking: boiling the honey and skimming the froth is
supposed to remove the proteins and thus speed up clearing. But aren't
yeast, being living organisms, also made of protein?

Peter