I finally bottled/mason jar-ed mine. I put 5 liters of non-carbonated brew into mason jars, since I was lacking a sufficient number of bottle caps to bottle everythnig.
I had done the following :
* 3 gallons cider, quick boil, cooled, pitched onto yeast cake from spiced pumpkin (really squash) ale
* 5 days later, added another 3 gallons cider + 1.5 lb sugar + 2 lbs honey (quick boil, cooled, added)
* left alone in primary for 5.5 weeks between 60 and 70 F
I eagerly cracked open a liter of the still brew last night and shared it with my girlfriend. I'd say that it still has a pretty great nose of baked apples and fresh green apples, but it doesn't appear to have picked up any particularly interesting spices from the Squash Ale (which is a nice ale). The brew is quite dry, and rather like white wine to the taste. I was surprised that it seemed so unremarkable taste-wise when it smells so good. I also thought that it tasted pretty alcoholic (no idea about the ABV due to the split introduction of fermentatbles), but after consuming a good 750ml, I didn't feel especially drunk. Perhaps that had to do with dinner and drinking it slowly. I'm going to check a bottle of the carbonated stuff this weekend. Then I'm going to let my cider age while I drink the Squash Ale and the Saisson. If it improves, I'll post something.
Could the quick boil have helped to dry out some of the flavor? I would guess from what people have written that is a "no", but I don't know. I'm glad I did boil because every batch of cider meant for drinking without fermentation seemed to spoil in a most gross smelling fashion.
