Not sure what you are after, I was asking about two carboys from the same batch having different colors, one being amber and the other being a straw color. After bottling both and sampling over the summer, there is a very slight difference in the color and taste of the batches. However it doesn't seem to effect the quality one little bit, I did a "blind taste test" with some (admittedly tipsy) friends and no one could tell the difference. They are pretty low alcohol, under 6%, as I expected, not using anything other than cider and other low sugar apples and not letting them "ripen" (i.e., practically rot like the English do). That might make a difference in the taste but I have nothing to compare it to that is commercially available around here (Oregon). Anyway I used 3/4 c. corn sugar for each carboy, made them pretty bubbly. 1/2 c. might be more appropriate. I don't know how you would age bottles in a fridge, seems to me to defeat the purpose to have them so cold. Mine are in the garage until they are read to be emptied; I have been cheating but a year is probably best
Now off to attend to my just picked (well, in July anyway) blueberry melomel! Two years to drink though
Thought I'd update in case anyone is still following this thread. The 2013 batch that I said had 2 completely different colors in 2 carboys finished out amazing. The only difference I can detect is the straw colored carboy did come out very light in color, while the darker came out the classic "golden" color. Other than that the apple taste is definitely more subtle in the lighter stuff, absolutely stunning in the darker. By which I mean dry as a popcorn fart, I seriously dislike US commercial ciders, even the dry ones are sweet compared to the seriously dry English ciders. We had a couple outstanding craft ciders in London a couple years ago, but almost all of their commercial bottles are the sweet type, which surprised me a little. Just about done drinking it, but waiting has its rewards. Gone is the very slightly skunky smell which I am pretty sure is a residual of the sulfites.
So here's what I did in 2013 and just did a couple weeks ago (I procrastinated big time this year).
2013: 2 5 gal. batches, 8 5 gal. buckets = 165 lbs. = 12.5 gal. = 13.2 lbs./gal. Granny Smiths (a lot), Gravenstein (both from my trees), leftover Graeburn, Cox, Ashmead, Pippin, Crispin, Spitzenberg from a buddy's U-pick orchard. In other words anything I could reach
Used a rental grinder that more or less pulps the & press. I've seen that pulping them is worse but the old fashioned crank grinder is just too labor intensive for me. I've done it this way for 4 years now and I don't see any drawbacks. If you do this with fresh apples it really helps to use a nylon bag they use for wine inside the press, it keeps virtually all the bigger solids out of the juice. Too much solids like skin, stems and seeds results in a decidedly more bitter finished cider.
2014 (Jan 2015): 1 6 gal. batch (I've always been disappointed at the 1/2 - 3/4 gal. loss at bottling). 110 lbs. apples = 7 gal. = 15.7 lbs/gal. Granny Smith 40 lbs, Pippin 60 lbs., Rome 10 lbs. (a little sweeter). These were commercial apples grown in a very much drier climate than ours so I assume they had a much lower water content. Also they'd been in bins since picking in the fall so that might have dried them out somewhat.
2013: 5 Gal. juice directly into the primary, no boiling or heating. It's really unnecessary as you'll be killing off the wild yeast anyway. I had never done this but the results were unpredictable. One year it soured so bad and smelled so nasty I got PO'ed and left it in the carboy which I didn't need for 7 years without an airlock in a dark corner of my workroom (yes that's right). At some point it got a thick mat of moldy gunk on top so I let it go just to see what happened. A couple years ago I siphoned off the liquid because I need the carboy. It is now the most wonderful and intense cider vinegar I have ever tasted. I should sell it, I have 4 gallons or so. I since have found out that the mat is called the "mother of vinegar" and is basically bacteria/mold that really never dies. It can be saved indefinitely and used to inoculate ciders to make vinegar.
Anyway in 2013 5 gals. juice directly into the bucket & 2 lbs. Costco clover honey directly into the primary to kick it up a notch. In 2011 I hadn't used anything and got a "light beer" cider that wasn't alcoholic enough to give me a buzz. Heated the honey with a couple cups of the juice to just under boiling. I've read on the mead forums that Costco is actually quite nice honey for cider/mead.
In 2014 (6 gal. batch), again right into the bucket, I added 1600 gm Costco honey for 4% more alcohol (theoretically 400 gm sugar per 1% alcohol increase in another thread). So shooting for a 4% bump in ABV.
2013/2014 1 tube White Labs #WLP775 Dry English Cider yeast
Did starter both years, used briefly heated cider/honey, went crazy immediately both times so prob. didnt need it. As per this thread I think that making a starter is totally unnecessary.
5 tsp Fermax yeast nutrient in the starter (added to the primary aft. 18 hrs. in 2014)
25 gm DAP in primary for faster ferm (2013 & 2014 (added aft. abt. 18 hrs.)
Campden tablets 1/gal. 24 hrs (2013 - 5, 2014 - 6).
2013: OG 1.044 adjusted for temp, FG 0.998 (ABV 6.04%) where ABV = (OG - FG)*131. I was shooting for 7%.
Added malolactic bacteria culture WLP675 right into the carboy after 2nd racking (was planning on doing this @ 4 weeks, but had to wait for the culture). The carboy was already @ 50-55F in my workroom which was prob. too low, so I let it sit for 3 months to make sure it finished out.
2014: OG
SG 0.998 (ABV)
Plan on adding MB WLP675 after 3-4 weeks, malolactic fermentation is supposed to be optimal @ 63-66 F. So I'll keep it around 68 in the house.
2013: ½ c. corn sugar & WLP775 to bottle 2013. I saw not to add Campden tablets (which was recommended) to stop the ferm. if you are priming so I didn't.
2013: First racking off the lees @ a little less that 2 weeks, planning on a week this time.
2013: 2nd racking when I added the MLB @ abt. 5 weeks. Plan on the same this time. I still can't decide between 1 or 2 rackings. Better safe than sorry I guess. Left it in the workroom for 3 months until it started to heat up a little, then bottled. Cracked them in the fall a little under a year later. Your patience will be rewarded. Results as above. BTW the blueberry mead I mentioned is in the bottle after 6 months and 2 rackings. It already tastes wonderful to me but I plan on waiting at least a month to sample. I think the standard procedure for mead applies to cider, the longer you wait the better, but supposedly it will go south if left too long in the bottle. I can't seem wait more than 2-3 months to start drinking.
So any thoughts would be appreciated. I'll update in 6 months or so when I crack the 2014.