Cider too long in fermentation, options?

I made a 10 gallon batch of cider a few days ago. SG was 1.063. I had planned to bottle at about 1.030, and then pasteurize after the bottles got a good carbonation. However, I checked the gravity today and it was already at 1.016 (way, way faster than my last batch). I moved it to my cold basement to slow down fermentation. It tastes pretty good, but a little dry for my taste, and it will only get drier in the bottle. I'm thinking about just adding a couple pounds of brown sugar before bottling. What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?

My recipe:

10 gal apple juice
5 lb brown sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
Nottingham yeast

Since you plan to pasturize, just make sure to mix in the sugar throughly, then test the gravity, or taste.

I can guess that you will need about 2-3 more lbs of sugar for a ten gallon batch.

Thanks William. That's what I wanted to hear. Just making sure there was nothing wrong with going that route.

In case anyone's interested, I bottled the cider this morning. At bottling time the gravity had dropped to 1.013. I added 4lbs of sugar and that brought the gravity up to exactly 1.030. It tasted okay after adding the sugar, but still has a bit of a dry taste to it. Hopefully it'll be be better once it carbonates and sits in the bottle for a bit.

Once it bottle ages for a month or 2 it will taste a lot different. It takes a bit longer to age with the higher abv but in the end it'll be worth it.

thejudge said:

Once it bottle ages for a month or 2 it will taste a lot different. It takes a bit longer to age with the higher abv but in the end it'll be worth it.

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Thanks. That's good to know. The last batch I made was 4.3% abv and was good to drink as soon as it was carbonated (actually it was good before carbonation!). This batch is 6.4%. Not a whopper, but significantly stronger than what I had done before.

I am entirely new here. So this might be a stoopit comment, but doesn't brown sugar have sulfur in it?
Brown sugar= white sugar and molasses. Most molasses has sulfur.

ToiletBrew said:

I am entirely new here. So this might be a stoopit comment, but doesn't brown sugar have sulfur in it?
Brown sugar= white sugar and molasses. Most molasses has sulfur.

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I'm pretty new to brewing myself, so I don't have an answer to this. I just know that brown sugar is a common ingredient in ciders, and my last batch using brown sugar turned out great. Maybe someone who has an answer will chime in.

ToiletBrew said:

I am entirely new here. So this might be a stoopit comment, but doesn't brown sugar have sulfur in it?
Brown sugar= white sugar and molasses. Most molasses has sulfur.

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Not that I'm aware of...

ToiletBrew said:

I am entirely new here. So this might be a stoopit comment, but doesn't brown sugar have sulfur in it?
Brown sugar= white sugar and molasses. Most molasses has sulfur.

Click to expand...

Some molasses does contain sulfer, in the form of sulfites (aka campden tablets). But diluted into cider it shouldn't be anywhere near potent enough to have an effect on fermentation.

Yes brown sugar contains sulfites, and as mentioned it is diluted enough to not harm fermenting. Only issue is when back sweeting with BS and trying to bottle carb, it starts off slow due to it. But once the yeast get strong enough carbonation will take off immediately. Just make sure to watch it closely to not over carb and get bottle bombs.