Questions about my stout

Hey guys, I just bottled the stout I brewed about 11 days ago and like always we sample a half a glass or so just for the hell of it. The recipe was based on northern brewers breakfast stout which i converted to 2 gallons and then tinkered with it in brewsmith to get the alcohol up in the 5.5 percent range. When we sampled it tonight it was way way way sweeter than I expected and it wasn't very green tasting like I normally notice when sampling so young. This was my first time using lactose in a brew, is that why its so damn sweet tasting? Here is what the recipe looked like:

2 pounds 2 row
1 pound flaked oats
.75 pound roasted barley
1 ounce williamette- .5 for 60 minutes/.5 for 5 minutes
.5 pound lactose milksugar added in the last 10 minutes of the boil.
US-05 was the yeast I used
OG 1.057
FG 1.015
IBU-30.7

With 30.7 IBUs I expected to have more hop flavor, especially sampling so young but I couldn't hardly notice any at all. Why?
It is way sweeter than I wanted it to be, did I use too much lactose? Could the sweetness be overpowering the hop bitterness that I should have had? Will it lose some of that sharp sweetness with age in the bottles?
Also it seemed kind of light and watery, I understand without carbonation everything seems watery but to me it was a little much. I expected it to have a little bit stronger flavor. By looking at this recipe can you help me determine where I messed up?
Any other opinions on where I may have went wrong with the recipe are also welcome.

Its not like the beer is horrible, just not what was expected. After a few weeks they won't be that bad. Thanks for any info.

Two thoughts:

1. I recently brewed sweet stout and used 1lb. of lactose in a 5.5 gallon batch compared to your recipe which used 1/2lb lactose in a 2 gallon batch. Which would make yours a little sweeter.

2. You might have let it sit for another two or three weeks before bottling - 11 days is quick. I almost never bottle before 4 weeks.

Pappers said:

Two thoughts:

2. You might have let it sit for another two or three weeks before bottling - 11 days is quick. I almost never bottle before 4 weeks.

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+1 on this. 11 days really is rushing it. Hopefully you checked the gravity reading multiple times to make sure it was the same. Otherwise you might end up with overcarbonated beer or worse yet, bottle bombs.

I will never use lactose in a beer again. Alot of us stout lovers think that sweetness in a stout is just a nice quality, but for some reason lactose just gives it an over the top sweetness, so much so that it took me 6 months to get rid of that stout. I dont care for it, maybe in smaller quantities it could work, but .5lbs or more just seems too sweet. I just made a O' Flannigain , and at 1.015, I crashed cooled it and kegged it, its awesome and there is some left over sweetness that either came from mashing a little higher and using a less attenuative yeast. It works for me.

thanks for the info, seems like lactose might be a ingrediant that I won't have the desire to use anymore, also I need to get off of this 10-11 day primary, then bottle kick that i've been on. Like mentioned above I'll end up with bottle bombs eventually since I've never in my life used a hydrometer ever, I know, I know, its bad practice but I've been so happy with the beers i've made since joining the hobby that I've just decided not to use one and then worry because my beer missed its target by a few points. Plus I really don't want to have to go into my 5 gallon better bottle 2 or 3 times while in the primary to try to get a sample for a hydrometer reading, seems like alot of extra steps that could end up with a infection.

JBrady said:

thanks for the info, seems like lactose might be a ingrediant that I won't have the desire to use anymore, also I need to get off of this 10-11 day primary, then bottle kick that i've been on. Like mentioned above I'll end up with bottle bombs eventually since I've never in my life used a hydrometer ever, I know, I know, its bad practice but I've been so happy with the beers i've made since joining the hobby that I've just decided not to use one and then worry because my beer missed its target by a few points. Plus I really don't want to have to go into my 5 gallon better bottle 2 or 3 times while in the primary to try to get a sample for a hydrometer reading, seems like alot of extra steps that could end up with a infection.

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My suggestion wasn't about using a hydrometer. 11 days from brew to bottle is very quick. Most brewers here wait at least three to four weeks from brew to bottle because their experience is that the beer will be better.

And...if you go three to four weeks you really almost don't need a hydrometer. Unless something went terribly wrong it will either be completely done fermenting, or it isn't going to.