Lactose

Just curious as to how much you guys have used in your milk stouts and such. How much per gallon, that is, and when did you add it.

1 lb in the boil for a 5-6 gallon milk stout.



This Northern Brewer recipe is very true-to-style:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/allgrain/AG-SweetStout.pdf



A related question: has anyone used lactose in any other beer styles, say a less dark ale?

I’ve used 1 lb for a milk stout and 1/2 lb for a sweet cherry stout. Both turned out very nice.

Came to say 1lb for a 5-6 gallon batch as well.

The real question is: does lactobacillus use lactose as a precursor to lactic acid production?

Originally posted by MatSciGuy
The real question is: does lactobacillus use lactose as a precursor to lactic acid production?

Some do and some don’t - it’s not all that common in plant derived strains, but it is common in those derived from milk/yogourt. In those that can, lactic acid is produced by the fermentation of basically any sugar source that that bug can metabolize - not just lactose.

Originally posted by JoeMcPhee
Some do and some don’t - it’s not all that common in plant derived strains, but it is common in those derived from milk/yogourt. In those that can, lactic acid is produced by the fermentation of basically any sugar source that that bug can metabolize - not just lactose.

Joe, on a related note, I’ve brewed your Berliner Weiss recipe shared here and loved it. I’ve re-posted it (crediting you, of course) on Jim’s Beer Kit, a UK homebrew site, and some homebrewers on the other side of the pond have followed it too. Cheers!

If you brew it right, there is never a need for lactose.

Originally posted by Cobra
If you brew it right, there is never a need for lactose.

Originally posted by Cobra
If you brew it right, there is never a need for lactose.

I know you can mash at higher temps to leave some complex residual sugar, pitch a low-attenuating English ale yeast like Windsor or Fullers, etc, but there is no "brew it right" method which produces the same unfermentable milky sweetness as lactose. That’s just silly.

Originally posted by HornyDevil

Originally posted by Cobra
If you brew it right, there is never a need for lactose.

I know I’m just feeding the troll, but clearly, you’re a wimp if you can’t make a milk stout without lactose.

That being said, you can get away with as little as half a pound per five gallon batch and still get some sweet stout character, but you’re better off with a pound. I found this out the hard way. Add it near the end of the boil.