Thanks :-) I'm planning to try something new this time . A major problem in mead making (especially with all-honey, no fruit meads) is weak fermentation - slow start and takes ages, compared to beer or wine fermentation. To combat this I'm going to use the yeast cake from an ale homebrew for my mead - rack off a finished beer, then simply dump the honey-water mix on to the yeast cake. This will give me a much greater starting yeast population, and I'm hoping, a better, stronger fermentation. I've done it when making stronger beers in the past and it has worked well.
This worked so well that I'm going to do it again, every chance I get; and I'll just make a starter if it's not convenient to make a full batch of beer. FG was ~992, lowest I've ever measured, and it tasted nice on bottling.