Does lactose ferment out?

I've been getting more and more intrigued by various milk stout varieties, and I'd love to give one of them a try. Thing is, SWMBO is lactose-intolerant... Would she need to take a lactaid prior to having a beer that had lactose introduced to its wort, or would that lactose actually be fermented into something her body would be more likely to be able to handle?

Lactose (milk sugar) is a non-fermentable sugar. Not sure what effect the lactaid would have.

lactose is non fermentable. thats why its added to beers that want a slightly sweeter character. There are also other sugars that yeast can't ferment but I can't think of any right now, try google. Lactaid would help but why not just make a beer without lactose and not have to worry about your wife

Use Maltodextrin instead of Lactose. Both are non-fermentable.

You can also use Splenda.

Calder said:

Use Maltodextrin instead of Lactose. Both are non-fermentable.

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Maltodextrin adds no sweetness, although lactose is actually only slightly sweet itself.

Still, unfortunately, I haven't found a substitute for lactose that has the same character to its sweetness. Splenda and similar sugar substitutes are just too much like, well, sugar, IMO.

oops...deleted.

As others have stated, brewer's yeast cannot ferment lactose. It's still going to be there in the final product. Whether or not lactaid works for your wife, and if you want to risk being around her when she drinks this, is your risk to take.

The standard Saccharomyces cerevisiae which is the species of your standard brewers ale yeast cannot ferment lactose and even if it could it would ruin the mouthfeel which is a desired characteristic in milk stouts. So yes she will want to take her pills before drinking it. If you want to brew a lactose free version I would use maltodextrin instead as someone else already suggested. You wont get quite the same flavor but you will get that thick creamy mouthfeel that is characteristic of the style.

i necro'd this thread by accident...let it go fellas.

Oops. Didn't even notice. Sneaky, you are.