2010 Chapin Cider

THE PLAN:

Cider season is here again! I went out to Chapin Orchard in Essex and collected 6 gallons of their latest crush - a mixture of McIntosh, Cortland, and Macoon. Apparently I missed the main hard cider crush, but whatever, I didn't have much time to go get it. Last year's cider that I made turned out great... but honestly, I'm not trying to wait 11 months to drink it. This year, I'm using some different yeast, which will hopefully leave it a little sweeter and less dry, and also am going to try and keg it quicker to enjoy over the winter. I *may* go back and grab another 5 gallons to do some tests on... I'd like to separate it into 5 - 1 gallon jugs and sweeten them with different ingredients: honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, and maybe either plain white sugar or some clear candi sugar if I get around to making some. In addition to hoping this new yeast will stop before it becomes too dry, I'm hoping that I won't have to add potassium sorbate to kill the yeast, so that I can bottle condition some of it. I have a few champagne bottles saved specifically for this.

10/24 CIDER PICKUP:
The family rolled out to Chapin Orchard with me to pick up this year's cider. I got 6 gallons of the crush, which consisted mostly of McIntosh, Cortland, and Macoon. When I got home, I siphoned a little over 5 gallons into a 5 gallon carboy on top of 5 crushed campden tabs, and I put a 1/2 gallon in a growler.
SG: 1.048/11.8 Brix

10/25 PITCH YEAST:
I had smacked my Wyeast Cider smackpack about 2 days prior to this, it took awhile for it to expand completely, and it actually wasn't fully expanded, but I pitched anyways. The 1/2 gallon growler I just put an airlock on and I'm going to see if it naturally ferments. Hope the Wyeast Cider bugs do a good job.

10/29 CHECK IN:
We were headed out of town for a 4 day weekend, so I thought I'd do a check in with both ciders to see how the fermentation was going.
Cider 1 (w/ wyeast cider yeast): Brix 10.8/1.041 - smelled really yeasty.
Cider 2 (natural fermentation): Brix 11.5/1.045

11/3 CHECK IN:
Looked like the cider was still fermenting, so I checked the gravity to see where it's at:
Cider 1: Brix 9.75/1.034 - still smelled really really yeasty.
Cider 2: (will check tonight, 11/4)

11/10 CHECK IN:
Cider 1: Brix 7/1.017 - smells... AWESOME!  Tastes great too... both are cider-ish.
Cider 2: (will check later)

12/4 CHECK IN & RACK TO KEG:
Cider 1: Brix 4.2/0.999 - I was kind of surprised that it got this low... certainly doesn't taste like it.  Still has a bit of a yeasty smell/taste to it, but very slight.  Will disappear with carbonation.  Gonna rack this to a keg tonight, cold crash it, and let it sit for awhile before carbing it. 
Cider 2: (will check later)