I bottled my Atomic Fireball Mead today.

When I poured the cinnamon oil in, I was very disappointed to see it acting like an oil in water. It made little globs and sunk to the bottom. I stirred it around a bit and I guess that did some good. The sample I drank did have more cinnamon taste than one I tried before adding the oil. I have read that drinking it is like drinking the candy, and I would agree. I did, however, notice a slight "young mead" taste to it. I do think that aging will help it.

I started it in early January. I think it turned out well. I'll definitely make more.

Edit Originally titled "I bottled my Atomic Fireball Mead today"

BeerRunner said:

When I poured the cinnamon oil in, I was very disappointed to see it acting like an oil in water. It made little globs and sunk to the bottom. I stirred it around a bit and I guess that did some good. The sample I drank did have more cinnamon taste than one I tried before adding the oil. I have read that drinking it is like drinking the candy, and I would agree. I did, however, notice a slight "young mead" taste to it. I do think that aging will help it.

I started it in early January. I think it turned out well. I'll definitely make more.

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Pictures? Too bad you couldnt bottle it with those mini fireballs.

I'll try to get a photo when I come home from work today. Headed out the door right now.

I demand that SOMEONE post the recipe for this mead. DEMAND!

MarcJWaters said:

I demand that SOMEONE post the recipe for this mead. DEMAND!

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It is from radical brewing, if nobody beats me to it I will post it later today.

Recipe
15 # light flavored honey

50 atomic fireballs, soaked in hot water overnight, then added to water in kettle and dissolve before the honey is added.

1 to 2 boxes Celestial seasonings Red Zinger tea (for color), added at the end of pasteurization and allowed to steep for 10 minutes.

1 oz cinnamon oil, added to the secondary or at bottling.

Next time you might want to try a water soluble flavoring.

http://www.bickfordflavors.com/item.asp?id=141&range=3

bubbachunk said:

Recipe
15 # light flavored honey

50 atomic fireballs, soaked in hot water overnight, then added to water in kettle and dissolve before the honey is added.

1 to 2 boxes Celestial seasonings Red Zinger tea (for color), added at the end of pasteurization and allowed to steep for 10 minutes.

1 oz cinnamon oil, added to the secondary or at bottling.

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So I am assuming that is 15 pounds honey?

How do you keep the water warm overnight? Room temp?

I am assuming this is a 5 gallon yield?

MarcJWaters said:

So I am assuming that is 15 pounds honey?

How do you keep the water warm overnight? Room temp?

I am assuming this is a 5 gallon yield?

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Yes that is the pound sign
5 gallon batch, and I have never made it just copied from radical brewing.

OOOHHH yeah..that would be SO COOL! bottle this in clear wine bottles, and put a red fireball in the bottom..so you can see it in there...that would be awesome!!

Oh yeah and maybe instead of cinammon oil....try cinnamon flavor extract (available at any supermarket baking section) and this mixes easily with mean..I used it in one of my hard ciders and it was wonderful.

Dan

I've read that one of the best ways to flavour wines or meads with oils is to dissolve the oil in some alcohol and add the alcohol towards the end of fermentation, so it mixes well into the alcohol that's already there and you don't risk killing the yeast. It would essentially be a fortified wine in that case.

MarcJWaters said:

...How do you keep the water warm overnight? Room temp?

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You don't need to keep it warm overnight. Just drop them in hot water. They will eventually dissolve. The recipe is fairly vague. I waited a day or so until they all dissolved.

I am assuming this is a 5 gallon yield?

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Yes.

I used 30 bags of the Celestial Seasoning tea (1 1/2 boxes). The recipe says it's for color, but I still believe that the rose hips, peppermint oil, and hibiscus (among other things) contribute more than color. I hope someone more knowledgeable than me can chime in on that issue.

flyweed said:

OOOHHH yeah..that would be SO COOL! bottle this in clear wine bottles, and put a red fireball in the bottom..so you can see it in there...that would be awesome!!

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It would just dissolve pretty quickly.

flyweed said:

Oh yeah and maybe instead of cinammon oil....try cinnamon flavor extract (available at any supermarket baking section) and this mixes easily with mean..I used it in one of my hard ciders and it was wonderful.

Dan

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Can you tell me how much cinnamon flavor extract would be equivalent to 1oz of oil? I want to try it again. I was hoping for a better idea than oil that just sinks to the bottom.

Thanks.

hmm this sounds pretty good! like a good after dinner sipper. small amounts of oils dissolve just fine in mead because of the alcohol content. just takes some stirring and some time. The alcohol acts like an emulsifier.

well in my christmas cider..I used 1 teaspoon of cinnamon extract added to the 5 gallons..and you can just taste a very hint of cinnamon in the cider now..it's nice. You could probably go with 2 teaspoons for 5 gallons and you would have a fairly dominant cinnamon taste.

Dan

That is great, man! I can not wait to try this.

the owner of Homebrew USA in Norfolk made this atomic fireball mead. he left it in the carboy forever and every time i went in i would ask him when he was going to bottle it.

finally, he kegged it, carbed it, and gave me a draft. holy shiit. one of the smoothest meads ive ever had. soooo good it's dangerous.

Ok, I am math illeterate..I want to try a one gallon batch of this BEFORE I committ to 5 gallons. Can anyone give me the number for a 1 gallon batch?? Also, what Yeast did this recipe call for??? What was OG and FG????

Dan

flyweed said:

Ok, I am math illeterate..I want to try a one gallon batch of this BEFORE I committ to 5 gallons. Can anyone give me the number for a 1 gallon batch?? Also, what Yeast did this recipe call for??? What was OG and FG????

Dan

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3.6lbs of honey
10 jawbreakers
6-12 packets of tea
Wyeast 4184 Mead yeast...although a whole pack of yeast may be a bit much for one gallon. BTW- Wyeast 4184 is very slow to get started. I waited 9 days before there was any activity, and then it was tiny bubbles.

Nurmey said:

Next time you might want to try a water soluble flavoring.

http://www.bickfordflavors.com/item.asp?id=141&range=3

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Is this a "hot" cinnamon flavor? Someone else suggested a cinnamon flavor extract. I picked up a bottle of that, but the taste is more of a weak, sweet flavor, like on cinnamon rolls.

PintOfBitter said:

hmm this sounds pretty good! like a good after dinner sipper. small amounts of oils dissolve just fine in mead because of the alcohol content. just takes some stirring and some time. The alcohol acts like an emulsifier.

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Would it be better to add the oil when racking to secondary and let it sit for a few months? I really want to try this again but make it work.

BeerRunner said:

Is this a "hot" cinnamon flavor? Someone else suggested a cinnamon flavor extract. I picked up a bottle of that, but the taste is more of a weak, sweet flavor, like on cinnamon rolls.

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I haven't tried their cinnamon but they sell to candy and ice cream stores so my guess is that it is hot cinnamon.

Hey I went to Randy Radical Brewing website to get his e-mail address. He forwarded my question to the recipe's author, who had this to say:

"Hi Randy! We're doin fine down here. Tell the gentleman that it is hard to mix the oil into the mead at first. Over time it will blend in but the bottles will need a good shaking every day. When we made the mead for the conference I remember shaking each 55 gal drum every day for at lease a week before we bottled.
Happy Holidays,
Chuck"

Great!

Any chance for a pic of this? I would love to see this bad boy. :rockin:

blackwaterbrewer said:

the owner of Homebrew USA in Norfolk made this atomic fireball mead. he left it in the carboy forever and every time i went in i would ask him when he was going to bottle it.

finally, he kegged it, carbed it, and gave me a draft. holy shiit. one of the smoothest meads ive ever had. soooo good it's dangerous.

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Sweet, that's my LHBS too :rockin:

So..............would love to see this in a bottle AND poured in a glass!!