Sweet Stout Left Hand Milk Stout Clone

Gonna order the ingredients to make this BIAB. Living just a few miles from Left Hand I'm really excited. Read through most of the post but just in case I missed something wanna make sure: Is the original recipe still the standard? And are there any tricks I need to know?

 

I followed the recipe and checking FG tomorrow. Should be a great beer! Very excited. How long do you guys keg condition?


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I brewed this beer recently and stayed true to most of the recipe but I had to use flaked wheat because I could find flaked barley. The beer tastes good, but has practically no head. Carbonation is deliberately low (I used 70 gram corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch) which I'm perfectly fine with, but the lack of a head is disappointing. Any idea what went wrong? In a previous oatmeal stout I brewed I aimed for the same (low) carbonation and the beer head a very decent head, more stable than most commercial beer.

Thanks!

 

Wait, you added 70 grams of lactose to carbonate the beer?

If that's the case, that's the problem. You have no carbonation because lactose doesn't get processed by yeast to create co2. I carb mine at 1.8vol and creates a great cascade and head. It does die down to a nice lacing after a few minutes but freshly poured, it's pretty.

 

insanim8er, that was a typo. I used 70 gram of corn sugar for priming, not lactose. Thanks for replying.

 

How long has it been in the bottle?

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Ok good... You never know with this site. I saw a forum where the guy put a packet of no rinse sanitizer in his beer thinking it was priming sugar.

I've seen posts where a guy put 2.5 gallons of squirt soda (for a grapefruit hef) to prime his beer—he had bombs.

Anyway, what's your temp at, and as asked above how long has it been?

General rule is

1 - week primary
2 - weeks secondary (if you actually use it)
3 - weeks bottle (at 68-70f)

I haven't done the calculation as to what volume 70 grams will give you for 5 gallons, but you really want to be around 1.8vol for this beer. (IMO)

 

Wow! That's some Extreme Homebrewing

I didn't use secondary. The rest is as you describe, though temperature is not regulated and may be a bit higher during the day (I live in sunny Israel, and it's already spring time here). It's been two week since I bottled the beer.

Yes, this is what I was aiming for. I used Beersmith and referred to the standard carbonation for a Sweet Stout. I like the level of resulting carbonation and don't need more. It's only the missing head that bothers me...

BTW, the beer is not really sweet. I wonder if I should have put more than a pound per gallon to get a more distinctive sweet taste?

 

I've brewed it a few different ways and to me, I'd say switch the amounts of roasted barley and chocolate. I used 1lb chocolate and 12oz roasted barley in the batch that I would consider the closest.

 

I don't really consider LHMS to have a sweet taste. Too me, I'd describe it as a very light roast with some creaminess, but not really sweetness. I think a pound is about right. If you want a little more sweetness, a trick I use is to boil down the lactose separately until it's a thin syrup and then add it after the boil. It seems to concentrate the flavor a bit. I'm not sure why, but it made a noteable difference to me.

 

Just an FYI for anyone looking to brew this:

I toured Left Hand this past weekend. In their malt room, I noticed no C-60. I did see a lot of Great Western C-75. It might be something worth considering.

 

C60 should be a fairly close substitute still. I wish I had access to some good north american malted c75 in bulk. It's so much cleaner than the c80 for some reason when I have used it.

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Holy crap! What sweet nectar! Chilling this and then hooking up the co2. Looking to carb low and slow. Suggestions?


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Keep it low vol about 1.8

Serve about 55f

 

Put it on nitro! :rockin: Next time you make this, try 4 - 5oz toasted cocoa nibs in the secondary for a week.

 

Just finished doin this BIAB. Hit 1.060. Pretty close for only my third BIAB and my first stout. I'm so pumped for this beer. When it's done I'll head a couple blocks down the road to the brewery to get some for a side by side test.

 

Brewed this a week ago and added 4oz of dark chocolate covered cocoa nibs in the boil for 5min. Going to be delicious.

 

How long do you guys keg condition and at what temp?


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I haven't had a keg last more than a week (with or without nibs) so I have no input on conditioning this...

 

I am taking it to a huge camp out and I have showed major self control. I have in the fridge but I don't know if that is the best way to condition it.


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I do that with mine... It gets better with some age

 

5 gal BIAB batch mashing in as i post . can't wait . one of my favorite beers

 

My batch was off the chart good! This is now in the rotation.


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This looks delicious!

 

I've got all the ingredients but flaked barley in my cabinet. Will it make a drastic difference if I leave this out?


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It adds protein for body and head retention.

 

I think it will. You can sub in flaked oats or some wheat malt though as they should do pretty much the same thing.


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I wouldn't make it without it. It absolutely contributes to the mouthfeel that you'd expect from an actual Left Hand Milk Stout. Head retention as well. Flavor-wise, you'll still be very close but it won't quite seem the same. I'm using 10oz currently.

 

Could use maltodextrne for body, and use some wheat if you have it on hand for head retention maybe.

 

Sounds like I'll be making a trip back to the store soon. Thanks for the advice.


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Subscribing.

 

Any updates to the all grain recipe?

 

Anyone make this version?
Any luck?
Looking at making a stout for the wife and she really likes this LH MS.

 

I have only made the all grain version and I have to say it is one of the top 3 beers I brewed. My wife almost kicked the keg by herself! Thanks for the reminder, I need to brew this again!

 

I'm sure it is, but the extract version is missing a few things....

 

Make it just as it is on the first page... It's one of my favorite beers.... I'll be brewing it up soon for fall/winter. I'll probably do 15 gallons of it at once this time.

 

👍


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Has anybody tried brewing this without the lactose and at a higher mash temperature? I brewed this with a few changes in the grain bill but also put vanilla and bourbon in the secondary, I think it will be better without it, now I want to try this on nitro!

 

Some have reduced the lactose but if you eliminated it entirely it wouldn't taste the same. I'm sure it would still make a really good beer though.