Milk stout twang?

Was thinking about doing a milk stout (actually a chocolate milk oatmeal stout), but had a concern -

I actually hadn't tasted a milk stout in years before last night when I bought a couple bottles of Southern Tiers 2X Double Milk Stout. There was a sharp bite right at the end that reminded me of sucking on a nickel. I believe that I can remember a taste like this in milk stout years ago which may be why I haven't had one in so many years!

Anyways to my question - is this just a characteristic of the lactose in the stout, or what? I've heard a lot of people mention this bite in this stout and I've heard some people mention that it can overpower any chocolate if you are doing a chocolate milk stout - thoughts? Maybe just use less lactose? Is 0.5-1lb typical in a boil?
Thanks

I know that flavor, milk stout as a result is the only special reserve beer I've made. It's reserved for special tasks like catching garden slugs. I am not certain of the source of the flavor but considering the rest of the ingredients are commonly used in other brews for me the right amount is none.

That's what I was afraid of - I can definitely do without. Garden-slug trap sounds intriguing though

it's not the lactose making a nickel flavor. I made a milk chocolate (lactose, cocoa, vanilla) stout a few months ago and there's zero nickel to it. The re-make currently fermenting also has no nickel. I can't recall the ST one, but I've never gotten nickel from a beer with lactose in it

dcp27 said:

it's not the lactose making a nickel flavor. I made a milk chocolate (lactose, cocoa, vanilla) stout a few months ago and there's zero nickel to it. The re-make currently fermenting also has no nickel. I can't recall the ST one, but I've never gotten nickel from a beer with lactose in it

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My current batch doesn't have any vanilla, should I consider adding some at bottling?

BigFloyd said:

My current batch doesn't have any vanilla, should I consider adding some at bottling?

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If you want some vanilla flavor, go for it. I'd suggest splitting the batch and try half with vanilla for comparison. I'll add with the 3 milk stouts I've done the past 2 years, I can distinctly taste the lactose, which I don't in any commercial beer like Left Hand's version. I don't particularly care for what it's done to my home brews. I've used 12 oz. and 1 lb. twice for 5 gal. batches, so nothing extreme. First one was an extract batch, last two were all grain. The beers weren't flawed in any way, and I received plenty of compliments at home brew tastings, but it doesn't seem to blend into the beer. I'm going to go down to .5 lb. the next time I brew one, and see how it goes, but I'm missing some process or something the commercial/experienced brewers are doing.

tuskenraider said:

I've used 12 oz. and 1 lb. twice for 5 gal. batches, so nothing extreme. .............................

I'm going to go down to .5 lb. the next time I brew one, and see how it goes, but I'm missing some process or something the commercial/experienced brewers are doing.

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Well, I went with the whole pound of lactose figuring that I'd need its sweetness to balance out the 8 ounces of unsweetened cocoa powder I added along with it.

Did you use that much cocoa with yours and what kind?

Thanks!

BigFloyd said:

My current batch doesn't have any vanilla, should I consider adding some at bottling?

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if you'd like. I like how it works with cocoa, plus lactose + vanilla + cocoa = milk chocolate. I ended up getting 2nd place in a recent competition with it, haven't got my scoresheets back to know if any tips could add. I used 1lb lactose, 6oz cocoa powder, 1 vanilla bean (soaked in bourbon w a lil oak)

I did the deception cream stout on here, it was excellent. Left hand makes a great milk stout.

Not sure of the twang.

BigFloyd said:

Well, I went with the whole pound of lactose figuring that I'd need its sweetness to balance out the 8 ounces of unsweetened cocoa powder I added along with it.

Did you use that much cocoa with yours and what kind?

Thanks!

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No cocoa, just a mix of roasted malts. I've yet to use cocoa, though I recently "secondaried" a porter on cocoa nibs that gave a nice nose to it.