On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 13:52:22 GMT, "Bill Bell" <wbell1@bellsouth.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>To remove the excess yeast, you could rack the sima and add a fining agent
>to it, such as isinglas or gelatin, then rack again after a week.
>
>Time may be your ally here too: My brother made some dandelion wine with
>bread yeast (we were kids!), and it took 2 or 3 years before it was really
>drinkable.
>
>As to the type of yeast to use: I used to use Montrachet wine yeast when
>making mead (honey wine), because the flavor profile of the yeast didn't
>dominate the natural honey flavor. You could also try some sort of
>"neutral" brewer's yeast and see which works better.
>
>"Frogleg" <frogleg@nowhere.com> wrote in message
>news:s2klhvc23j3pnosualeeatbalm9skq8c0g@4ax.com...[color=green]
>> Just made a batch of sima -- no, not Zima. The recipe is lemons,
>> water, sugar and yeast left to perk overnight(!), then bottled with
>> added sugar and 3 raisins. This is supposed to sit around for a couple
>> of days until the raisins rise to the top. Then the bottles are
>> refrigerated and ready to drink. I made this a number of years ago,
>> and the result was a mildy alcoholic, somewhat fizzy lemonade. Yes, I
>> used bread yeast.
>>
>> Given that ambient temperatures are probably a good deal warmer than
>> this recipe's Scandinavian origin, it shouldn't have been a surprise
>> that those raisins zipped to the top lickety split.
>>
>> So here I am with 4 quarts of lemony liquid that's got enough yeast in
>> it to supply a bakery for years. It's only been refrigerated for a few
>> hours, but shows no sign of clearing, although there's quite a bit of
>> yeast sludge at the bottom.
>>
>> Is there any relatively simple way I can make this drinkable?
>> Actually, it *is* drinkable, but only if one is very fond of yeast.
>> Would using some kind of brewing/wine yeast significantly improve this
>> simple recipe? Is there an easy way to fliter out the yeast? Any clue
>> as to whether the yeast *will* settle or not, and if so, how I get the
>> stuff out of the bottle and into a glass without stirring it up?[/color]
>[/color]

Thanks, Bill. "Racking" is siphoning the liquid off the yeast
sediment? And re-bottling?

I had an idea of pouring this stuff through a coffee filter and
re-bottling with very small amount of sugar. Why is this impossible?
[color=blue]
>2 or 3 years before it was really drinkable.[/color]

I'm *not* going to keep 4 quart bottles in my 'fridge for 2-3
years.:-) The recipe, which I have seen 2-3 versions of, says to
ferment the mix for 12 hrs; bottle with raisins; and refrigerate for
use when the raisins rise to the top (carried aloft by little bubbles
of CO2). Since it's of Scandinavian origin (and I made it years ago in
a cooler climate), I imagine the 'sunk raisin' stage should really
last more than 10 hrs, which may make a difference.

One Q about wine/brewing yeast vs bread -- do the brewing strains
produce less, um, excess yeast, or simply better flavor? I'm not
concerned with making a gourmet treat to be discussed in terms like
"full-bodied with just a hint of blackberry." Just fizzy lemonade with
a (short) history.