Where do you buy lactose?

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IRmeterman

IRmeterman

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Hey everyone.

I'm wondering where to buy lactose (milk sugar). I live in Canada, and I don't have a LHBS nearby. Is it available at health food stores or anywhere else?

The reason I ask is because I'm finding the apfelwein I made to be too dry/tart/puckery. I understand adding lactose along with priming sugar can help sweeten it up. If I use Nottingham instead of EC-1118 would it end up sweeter? I bottle all my brews and carbonate, so sorbate is out of the question. I'm not married to any one plan of attack, I just want to end up with a slightly sweeter final product.

Any ideas/suggestions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
 
I imagine any of the online stores (Austin Homebrew, Northern, etc) would send you lactose.

As for suggestions about the Apfelwein, I'm the only person on HBT who has not made a batch of it so I can't really advise you . . .
 
Pappers said:
I imagine any of the online stores (Austin Homebrew, Northern, etc) would send you lactose.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they would. Unfortunately they would charge me an arm and a leg to do so. There must be some sort of store that sells the stuff besides a brew store (please?).
 
How about using Splenda, or some other non-ferment able sugar replacement to back sweeten?
It's worked for me.
 
Kauai_Kahuna said:
How about using Splenda, or some other non-ferment able sugar replacement to back sweeten?
It's worked for me.
Click to expand...

Actually, that's what I ended up doing after a bit of research. Next time, I'm going to use Nottingham instead of Lalvin EC-1118 and hopefully I'll end up with a slightly sweeter product. Of course, I haven't waited NEARLY long enough for the stuff to age. Time will tell.
 
I realize these aren't answering your question, but here is another lactose-free idea.

I discovered by accident that there are (at least) three ways to get a sweet final product:
1. Use non-fermentable sugar
2. Kill the yeast
3. Let the yeast kill themselves

You are familiar with option 1.

Option 2 is to ferment it to a point you are happy with and then kill the yeast. You could do this any number of ways. Chemicals, boiling, high doses of radiation... A classic (and tasty) way is to use alcohol. Add some everclear or something in there and stop the fermentation. This is how Port wines are made.

Option 3 is to give the yeast more sugar than they can handle. If you left yeast in a seriously heavy sugar bath, they would keep making alcohol until they couldn't live anymore. Then they would die and you would be left with alcoholic sugar water. My father in law makes a sweet cherry wine by using equal weights of cherries and sugar and a yeast can't go past 8 or 9% ABV.

A brilliant way to achieve this same effect if to freeze concentrate your cider before fermenting: put some cider in the freezer for a little while, the water freezes first and sweet apple concentrate is unfrozen, remove the ice and you have a very concentrated fermentable liquid.

Good luck!
 
Pappers_ said:
I imagine any of the online stores (Austin Homebrew, Northern, etc) would send you lactose.

As for suggestions about the Apfelwein, I'm the only person on HBT who has not made a batch of it so I can't really advise you . . .
Click to expand...

You are not alone on that point, Pappers! I have never made a batch either, I keep thinking dry champagne taste.
 
IrishJew said:
I realize these aren't answering your question, but here is another lactose-free idea.

I discovered by accident that there are (at least) three ways to get a sweet final product:
1. Use non-fermentable sugar
2. Kill the yeast
3. Let the yeast kill themselves

You are familiar with option 1.

Option 2 is to ferment it to a point you are happy with and then kill the yeast. You could do this any number of ways. Chemicals, boiling, high doses of radiation... A classic (and tasty) way is to use alcohol. Add some everclear or something in there and stop the fermentation. This is how Port wines are made.

Option 3 is to give the yeast more sugar than they can handle. If you left yeast in a seriously heavy sugar bath, they would keep making alcohol until they couldn't live anymore. Then they would die and you would be left with alcoholic sugar water. My father in law makes a sweet cherry wine by using equal weights of cherries and sugar and a yeast can't go past 8 or 9% ABV.

A brilliant way to achieve this same effect if to freeze concentrate your cider before fermenting: put some cider in the freezer for a little while, the water freezes first and sweet apple concentrate is unfrozen, remove the ice and you have a very concentrated fermentable liquid.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

If you kill the yeast, you can't carbonate from what I've read, which is the main reason you would need to use a non-fermantable sugar. So you can sweeten and then add carbonation.
 
I don´t buy lactose just make my own with this:
untitled.png
plus this:
Cow_female_black_white.jpg
 

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