Transfering carboys while still fermenting?

Newbie brewer here... Any reason why I shouldn't transfer an overly sweet 11 litre cider that is waaaay too sweet into a 23 litre carboy that I will top up with fresh pressed juice? The og was 1080 and a week later it is 1060 but way too sweet. Hoping that transferring and adding will mellow this out a bit...

Yes, there is a very goods reason why you shouldn't do it: you need the yeast to do their job (fermenting) to get rid of the sweetness, but transferring = getting the brew off the yeast and leaving it behind. So transferring now will have the opposite effect of what you want.

You only ever transfer once fermentation is complete. Not complete = don't transfer.

rocketsan said:

Newbie brewer here... Any reason why I shouldn't transfer an overly sweet 11 litre cider that is waaaay too sweet into a 23 litre carboy that I will top up with fresh pressed juice? The og was 1080 and a week later it is 1060 but way too sweet. Hoping that transferring and adding will mellow this out a bit...

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Adding more juice wont help with the sweetness. How long has it been fermenting, it shouldnt be done yet at 1060. If it has stopped you could always pitch more yeast??

It's bubbling away just fine - one bubble every 1.5 seconds. Was just overwhelmed at how sweet it was. Using lactose in conjunction with brown sugar. Was surprised at how sweet it was...

as it ferments out the yeast "eat" the sugar and therefore when it's done fermenting it won't be anywhere as sweet as it is now. Just give it some time. I have a 5 gallon batch going right now that will be in the primary fermenter for about a month before I transfer to the secondary. And you're right, 1.060 is really sweet, but like I said give it some time.......

My last batch of 5.5 gallons of cider, took a good 20 days to ferment from 1.079 -> 1.000, just be patient. When the bubbles start to slow down a ton, like 2 per minute, then take a gravity reading. If it's bubbling a ton, the yeast are still going strong.

Thanks for the reassurance, first time using Maltodextrin for mouthfeel which has changed the taste of it for me as well.

Off to the farm to grab 23 litres to start some more.

Appreciate all the help. My wife calls you all my "home brew homies" seeing as I've been visiting this site non-stop the past few weeks.

rocketsan said:

It's bubbling away just fine - one bubble every 1.5 seconds. Was just overwhelmed at how sweet it was. Using lactose in conjunction with brown sugar. Was surprised at how sweet it was...

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How much lactose did you use? Lactose isn't ferment able, so once all of the brown sugar and natural sugar from the juice has been eaten, the lactose will still be there. If you used too much, your only option will be to dilute with more cider and have fermentation restart on its own (hopefully.)

I'm pretty new though.

Sorry, it was 1/2 kilo (1pound) of maltodextrin with 2 pounds brown sugar. Seeing as this is a 3 gallon batch, it might be too much?

That should leave you with something like 1.015 which would be sweet but not syrupy. I don't know a whole lot about the "sweetness" of lactose though. Someone with more experience might chime in.

Lactose ≠ Maltodextrin

butterpants said:

Lactose ≠ Maltodextrin

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Huh??????

Lactose and Maltodextrin are not equal.

Maltodextrin is used primarily for mouthfeel and will yeild virtually no perceivable sweetness increase. Go taste some. It is an unfermentable sugar tho

Lactose will add sweetness to your finished beer and is also an unfermentable sugar. (not like cane sugar tho... much less pronounced) Can add some creaminess to mouthfeel.

Somewhere midway in this thread it got mixed up between what you're actually using and the advice given.

Ahhh that makes sense, thanks.

1040 today so it's dropping.

You need to learn patience... there are billions upon billions of yeast doing their work, but they have a big job ahead of them.
Rome was not built in a day.
Honestly, there is no reason you should even bother with a gravity reading this early.
Rushing cider will just mean it doesnt get to be all it can be.

No, I need to decide if I'm jazzed by the five day cider recipe or the caramel apple one

Glad I found this thread. I have 6 gallons of simple apple cider finishing up with Nottingham ale yeast. OG=1.063, FG is almost down to 1.000. I'm undecided on backsweetening. I've BSed and carbed with FAJC and pasteurized before, but I'm giving up heating pressurized glass bottles for health reasons. I plan to prime with table sugar, but not sure about BSing with lactose. And no, I'm not at all patient enough to age it; waiting for the Notty to finish is bad enough! How much lactose can I expect to use to get it noticeably sweeter but not syrupy? I realize this is a very subjective question, but can someone give me even a rough idea? Thanks!