Milk Stout Advice

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KoreyMatthew

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I'm making a 5 gal batch all-grain Milk Stout. Any advice on how much Lactic acid I should use? What is the difference in using Lactose (dry?) vs. the lhbs lactic acid in a bottle?

Thanks. Plan to brew it this Saturday, any help would be great.
 
KoreyMatthew said:
I'm making a 5 gal batch all-grain Milk Stout. Any advice on how much Lactic acid I should use? What is the difference in using Lactose (dry?) vs. the lhbs lactic acid in a bottle?

Thanks. Plan to brew it this Saturday, any help would be great.
Click to expand...

Lactic acid is NOT Lactose(a Milk sugar).LActic acid is just that an acid and will make your beer tart or sour. You want to use Lactose. 1/2 to 1lb of Lactose. I usually do 1/2lb
 
Lactic acid is more for ph adjustment and souring beers. Lactose is milk sugar. I don't think you want to use lactic acid at all, they aren't the same thing. I would say somewhere around .5 lbs to 1 lb would be a good place to start. I would lean towards .5 lb personally otherwise it can get sweet.

Chaos beat me too it
 
I'll be the third to recommend 1/2 lb. to be the right amount. 1lb is too much for my taste.
 
Glad I stumbled onto this thread. I am going to brew Jamil's milk stout recipe from BCS and was going to use 1lb as listed in the recipe. I will scale it back to 1/2 lb so it isn't too sweet. Does a 152f mash temp sound right?
 
knuckleheadbrewing said:
I use a 1lb of lactose in my milk stouts...but I think Milk Stouts as dessert beer...I like them sweet...so does SWMBO, it makes the panties hit the floor :D
Click to expand...

Alright then! Since the wife isn't a huge fan of most beers and prefers a sweeter dark beer I think I will keep it to 1lb as the recipe calls for and name it Liquid Panty Remover. :ban:
 
I brewed the Deception Cream Stout recipe for a recent party that calls for .5lbs and it was the top choice of the guests. Which was surprising because I thought most would gravitate to the lighter offerings I had available.
 
Yes, lactose sugar and NOT lactic acid. Phew, catastrophe averted :)

Note that lactose sugar is unfermentable by beer yeast, so you'll probably have a pretty high FG.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice,
After I posted this I thought about it and looked up some stuff and felt dumb for asking... oh well, learning something new everyday!
As follow up question on that thought and the discussion on the amount of Lactose which should be used... if I have a dry English Ale yeast (WLP007) [they were sold out of Irish] and I'm going for a middle of the road (sweet vs. dry) irish-ish milk stout... should I use 1/2 or 1 lb of Lactose... or maybe someplace in between.

Again, thank you for all the posts and advise... yes, catastrophe averted, batch of beer saved.
 
I am planning on doing a milk stout soon, and from what I have researched I would start with 1/2 lb. Lactose is unfermentable so you can always taste before you bottle and if you want it sweeter you can add the other 1/2 lb with your priming sugar.
 
AMonkey said:
I am planning on doing a milk stout soon, and from what I have researched I would start with 1/2 lb. Lactose is unfermentable so you can always taste before you bottle and if you want it sweeter you can add the other 1/2 lb with your priming sugar.
Click to expand...

I would think if you went this route you'd want to boil and make a solution (like you do with priming sugar when bottling)
 
KoreyMatthew said:
Thanks everyone for the advice,
After I posted this I thought about it and looked up some stuff and felt dumb for asking... oh well, learning something new everyday!
As follow up question on that thought and the discussion on the amount of Lactose which should be used... if I have a dry English Ale yeast (WLP007) [they were sold out of Irish] and I'm going for a middle of the road (sweet vs. dry) irish-ish milk stout... should I use 1/2 or 1 lb of Lactose... or maybe someplace in between.

Again, thank you for all the posts and advise... yes, catastrophe averted, batch of beer saved.
Click to expand...

Most of your sweetness in a Milk stout is not going to come from your lactose. While Lactose is a sugar and will add alittle sweetness it isnt very sweet(taste some). Its more to add body then sweetness. Where you get your sweetness is the attenuation(or lack of) of your yeast and the amount of unfermentable sugars. The temp you mash at as well as any cara crystal malts you might add. Personally I like 1/2lb lactose. WLP 013 London Ale yeast 8-12oz of Cara60-80 and around 154 mash.
 
i found a whole pound to be too much lactose in my extract milk stout. AG might be different but i'd recommend starting with half a pound
 

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