Milk Stout

Hey Guys,
I'd like to brew up a milk stout this weekend. I've never used lactose in any of my brews before and I'm curious as to what the best method is and how it will turn out. I'm thinking of adding some coffee with the grains and possibly a split vanilla bean during 2ndary ferm. I was wondering if anyone might have a really good milk stout recipe I could use as a starting point. Any input is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Hi. I have what I think is a great cream stout recipe in the HBT database - you can look for it under stouts. It's all-grain - do you use Beersmith? If so you can try translating it to extract. If you don't, let me know and I can do it.

I added the lactose in the last ten minutes of the boil.

Edit: I have no idea where I got the idea that you are looking for an extract recipe - in any case, if you need help turning it into an extract recipe let me know, or if you do all-grain, you're set.

Thanks Jim. I am in fact looking for an extract recipe so you were dead on with your assumption. Unfortunately, I do not have beersmith, however it sounds like something I should look into very soon. Would it be too much trouble for you to convert? No worries if you don't have the time. Thanks again.

I found a recipe for "Community Milk Stout" that looks pretty good. I've added a couple of things. I'll list below. Thoughts?

7# Pale Liquid Extract (8 SRM)
1# Chocolate Malt (350 SRM)
.75# Caramel/Crystal Malt
.5 # Roasted Barley (500 SRM)
.5 # Cara-Pils/Dextrine
.75 # Flaked Oats
2 Cups Course Ground Coffee

2.5 oz. Gilding, East Kent - 60 min
1.5 oz. Gilding, East Kent - 40 min
1 oz. Gilding, East Kent - 20 min
1 # Milk Sugar - 10 min

London Ale Yeast (Wyeast #1028)

2 Gallon Boil: 60 min
Steep: 30 Min (will probably do 45)

Also, to add vanilla, is it best to just split a bean and add the two halves two 2ndary fermentation? I've read differing opinions on this...

That recipe looks pretty good but the flaked oats really need to be mashed. If you're still looking for suggestions https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/deception-cream-stout-141483/ is very good. I've had several bottles of it from the recipe's creator and just brewed up a batch of my own.

If one was to leave out the roasted barley and bump up the chocolate malt, would it put far more emphasis on the chocolate taste/aroma and leave very little coffe in there?

swmbo hates dark beers for they taste "burnt" to her. I tried adding lactose to a porter to soften it, but it still had a burnt taste to her, this might be a good starter point if I can give it a chocolate flavour.

Sorry that was for the deception cream stout recipe

BrewTownBeginner said:

Thanks Jim. I am in fact looking for an extract recipe so you were dead on with your assumption. Unfortunately, I do not have beersmith, however it sounds like something I should look into very soon. Would it be too much trouble for you to convert? No worries if you don't have the time. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

I worked out an extract version on Beersmith and added it to the thread here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/singing-boys-cream-stout-149551/#post1716942

If you decide to add coffee to your steeping grains, I would reduce the roasted barley - roasted barley gives a coffee-like flavor and aroma.

would taking the roasted barley all together give it a much smoother feel (as far as the burnt coffe description goes)?

kunstler said:

If one was to leave out the roasted barley and bump up the chocolate malt, would it put far more emphasis on the chocolate taste/aroma and leave very little coffe in there?

swmbo hates dark beers for they taste "burnt" to her. I tried adding lactose to a porter to soften it, but it still had a burnt taste to her, this might be a good starter point if I can give it a chocolate flavour.

Click to expand...

Yes, if she doesn't like burnt or roastiness, then lessen the roasted barley. But its hard, because balance is so important in a cream stout, I think. if you get rid of too much of the roast, the sweetness might become cloying.

Certainly worth trying. You may get some interesting flavors with the Chocolate malt and vanilla working together - assuming the chocolate flavor wasn't too overwhelming. I would cut the coffee out completely if she complains of a "burnt" taste. Its funny - my brother actually refers to coffee as "burnt water". Give it a shot. Afterall, you have to keep the ladies happy.

Pappers said:

I worked out an extract version on Beersmith and added it to the thread here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/singing-boys-cream-stout-149551/#post1716942

If you decide to add coffee to your steeping grains, I would reduce the roasted barley - roasted barley gives a coffee-like flavor and aroma.

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the conversion/advice Jim. I'm going to check this out after work today and make final decisions before brew day on Saturday!

Thanks all, I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

One more question - Where can I get vanilla beans?! LHBS? Supermarket?

either. they are at my lhbs and in the spice isle in the grocery store. i think you can get them much better priced at a wholesale market like costco as they are not all that cheap.

Vanilla beans sound great!

Two beans should satisfy a five gallon batch. Be sure to slit them, open them, scrape the insides, chop it all up, and put all of it into the brew. Some folks soak the choppings in vodka for a day to sanitize them without boiling.

As nnatic said, vanilla beans are not cheap, probably $3-4 per bean at the low end.

Let us know how that turns out.

Pappers said:

I worked out an extract version on Beersmith and added it to the thread here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/singing-boys-cream-stout-149551/#post1716942

Click to expand...

While it is a good recipe,i would use White Labs London ale for the yeast

I would do a pound or at least .75 pound of roasted barley. The beer will be sweet and the roasted barley will help it not be overwhelmingly sweet. I have an obsession with creating the perfect milk stout recipe and have been working on it for a while. Sorry- cant post my recipe, but I can tell you I use a pound of roasted barley. Also I use 2 pounds of oats. Some munich malt would be nice too.. Good luck!

:rockin:

Clean - any choice within the English family makes sense, I think, I've used the WL London and English in stouts before (although not with the cream stout recipe) with good results, and the Windsor worked well, too.

Jackson - I completely agree, that's what I meant earlier about being careful with the balance if you remove the roasted barley, or add coffee without reducing the roasted barley. Balance is really important in cream stouts, in my opinion.

Jackson, I now have a mental picture of you up there in Wicker Park, obsessively perfecting your recipe in your bunker, ever-vigilant against prying eyes stealing the secret formula . . .

Pappers said:

Jackson, I now have a mental picture of you up there in Wicker Park, obsessively perfecting your recipe in your bunker, ever-vigilant against prying eyes stealing the secret formula . . .

Click to expand...

I have a metal briefcase handcuffed to my left wrist... It has an optical scanner on it and a self destruct switch.. Just in case...



Myself, I prefer S-05 or 1056. Nice clean american yeast. But an english yeast is normal for the style too. Do one batch wih one yeast, and then next brew day, do another batch with the other yeast. Then you can compare.

Hey guys,
I'm not sure if anyone is still following this or not, but I finally got to try the first bottle of my Vanilla Milk Stout. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It has a good vanilla taste and nice mouth feel. I may have overdone it a bit with the vanilla. Being a big fan of vanilla, I decided to go with three beans in secondary fermentation. In the future I would probably stick with two or at least increase the roasted barley to balance it out a bit (I should have listened to you Jackson D). That being said, I think this is still my favorite brew thus far and I will certainly brew it again with minor tweaks to hopefully perfect it! Thanks to everyone who provided me info and feedback.

Cheers!
Kyle