Converting a dry stout kit to a milk stout?

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TVarmy

TVarmy

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I ordered the promotional wheat stout kit from AHS and a pound of lactose, with the intent of adding some lactose to make a cream stout similar to the Deception Cream Stout in the stout recipes page. Is this a good idea? How will the lactose effect hydrometer readings? I'm thinking I'll add .5 lb lactose to a 5 gal batch, so will that just add a certain number of points to the SG that I just remember to subtract?
 
Some people say they add lactose along with the priming sugar, so that they don't have to worry about hydro readings being changed. Does that affect the flavor?
 
TVarmy said:
I ordered the promotional wheat stout kit from AHS and a pound of lactose, with the intent of adding some lactose to make a cream stout similar to the Deception Cream Stout in the stout recipes page. Is this a good idea? How will the lactose effect hydrometer readings? I'm thinking I'll add .5 lb lactose to a 5 gal batch, so will that just add a certain number of points to the SG that I just remember to subtract?
Click to expand...

I don't see anything wrong with lactating a dry stout, other than it won;t be dry anymore.

And that didn't sound right.

Honestly, I have no idea what the ppg of a pound of lactose is. It would affect gravity readings tho'. Hydrometers measure sugar and they aren't selective.

.5 pound sounds good.
 
Er, I meant, does it affect flavor, as compared to adding it durring the boil instead of at the end? Thanks.
 
I kinda do wanna, so I asked. :confused:

Do you think it'd throw the flavor off balance? If there's more to a milk stout than just adding lactose, I'll just go ahead and do it dry. I'll use the lactose for something else. After all, I do like Guinness as well as cream stouts.

Or was it I don't wanna mix it with my priming sugar? That was just a suggestion I found while googling the forms.
 
The reason you'd want to add it along with the priming sugar is that it gives you a chance to adjust the amount based on where your FG ends up. It might not get as dry as you expect and in that case, you'd want to back off on the lactose.
 
Anyway, lactose will add 46 ppg, so 1/2 lb in 5 gallons adds 4-5 points. I agree that you might want to wait until the fermentation is done before adjusting, as the wheat is going to give you a different flavor profile.
 
I've done 3 of the AHS Wheat Stouts in Mini-Mash form. They have all ended up pretty sweet as it. My final gravities have been 1022, 1022, and 1024. My recommendation would be to do it after Fermentation as well... so you can fine tune the "sweet".
 
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Hearing that the wheat stouts tend to be a bit sweet, I'll probably see how the hydrometer samples taste and then make up my mind on the amount to add.
 

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