Commercial Beers containing lactose?

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kawasakiguy37

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I drank two stouts today from trader joes, and afterwards started to feel very, very sick. One was the Black Hart Irish style dry stout (which was actually quite sweet), and the other stockyard oatmeal stout. I am very lactose intollerant so I usually notice even small amounts, but I never realized until today that commercial beer manufacters often add lactose to their beers. Since beer is not required to list any ingredients or allergens, how can I tell if these beers contain lactose?

Or is there a good list of commercial beers that contain lactose? Stout and porter is by far my favorite type of beer, and Im going to be quite unhappy if I have to stick to sam adams and guiness for the rest of my life!
 
If its labeled milk, cream or sweet stout, it likely has lactose in it. Otherwise, I think you are fine.
 
MMMMMMMMMMM MILK STOUTS!!!!! Left Hand Milk Stout..... i love you
 
Neither were labeled sweet stouts or milk stouts, but one made me sick for SURE. I emailed both manufacters, hopefully at least one of them gets back to me
 
There's a couple of Brooklyn beers that have lactose. I was halfway through a 6pack before I realized it was the beer, not the mexican food I was eating...

B
 
Since beer is not required to list any ingredients or allergens

Beer manufactures are not allowed to list nutritional information on the labels. Short of checking websites, there isn't much you can do.

The wine industry has been blocking any kind of nutritional and ingredient labeling on alcoholic beverages for decades. It took a few deaths for the sulfate information to be added. They really do not want people to know what gets added to the average wine.
 
I'm going to compile a list and post it here because this is a big problem for me as well. Also, I'll try to petition Ratebeer or BA to allow users to put this in the information. Also, I would guess the stockyard oatmeal stout did it with the "stockyard" being in the name because they add a stockyard animal product (cow sugar) to it.

For the record, I can't remember ever having a beer that I could see through that had lactose in it. They've all been very dark beers. I've had hundreds of different beers and pale ales, IPA's, barleywines, and belgians have all been fine for me. Another good rule to follow is that older, more traditional breweries (and/or beers that are plainly marked as a well-defined style such as "English Bitter" or "Belgian Strong Ale") are fairly safe. It seems like the ones you need to watch out for are the new American microbreweries who take a more creative view on what constitutes "beer" and are more likely to experiment with different ingredients. The Bavarian purity law forbids the use of anything but hops, water, yeast, and barley in a beer and therefore any beer made true to this law (some say it on the bottle) is safe. No doubt this is the reason that European beers are usually pretty safe. (The Mackeson being a exception to this rule)

For now, everyone who is lactose intolerant should avoid:
Oskar Blues: Old Chub
Mackeson XXX
Lefthand Milk Stout

This one is ok despite tasting like it has lactose in it:
Dogfish Head Miles Davis Bitches Brew

These have been confirmed by me personally and my intolerance is about as severe as possible so you can trust this list.
 
I too am suspected as being lactose intolerant. I have started contacting breweries to check whether they use lactose in their beers. The following have replied and DO NOT use lactose:

Brewery: Beer:

Thornbridge-Derbyshire ENGLAND Jaipur (5.9%)
 
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