Adding lactose to a black IPA

I have a 5 gallon batch of black IPA that turned out a little more bitter than I would like. I think it's the roasted flavors that are not working really well. It's not bad, just a bit too much.

It's in secondary being dry hopped right now. I was wondering if adding lactose to it at this point would help tone down or disguise the roasted flavors by adding some sweetness to it. I guess I would just boil about half a gallon of water, stir in either a half pound or full pound of lactose (I'll start with a lower amount and taste as I got o make sure I don't over-do it) and then dump that into the secondary after it cools. Any thoughts on this?

I was toying with this very same idea on a recipe that I'm formulating. I decided against it since I want a spicy rather than sweet flavor.

Still, it might be good. I can't fault your proposed process. Let us know how it turns out!

I think you're better off just letting it age a bit, that'll tame the hop bitterness and the roast as well. I had the same initial reaction to mine and now at about 8wks its much smoother. MY roast was prett restrained though, I added my black malts late in the mash.

I can't say adding lactose to an IPA is a bad idea but I don't want to believe that its a good idea either. It sounds like this beer might be in a keg since you seem to have an easy way of adjusting it now that its carbed. If it is in a keg and you want to back sweeten it, I would suggest adding honey to the beer. It won't ferment if you keep the beer cold and I think the flavor of honey would complement the BIPA. That's just a shot in the dark though. Another idea, what about blending this beer with another IPA or Pale ale.

Did you try carafa? If you're using chocolate malt and sub carafa instead you'll get a much noticeably smoother roast character.

Personally I hate the mouthfeel of lactose in beer

How old is the beer?

Hey everyone, sorry for thelack of replies. Work caught up with me for a little bit there and I am just getting back to the thread.

The beer is in secondary, so it isn't carbonated. It's also been either in primary or secondary since early february. I just finished dry hopping it with Amarillo and Citra. I hadn't tasted it for a few weeks and it's definitely not too roasty now. I did use Chocolate malt and Carafa III hoping it would give color without too much roast and it worked out fine. Just needed to relax and wait a bit.

Thanks for the comments, I think I'm going to forego the lactose.