Backsweetening Almost Pumpkin Ale

[tomwirsing]

My almost pumpkin ale (no canned available for me either) fermented down a bit farther than expected. 1.054 down to 1.003. I was working on a yeast cake of WLP001 and was fermenting in my reasonably cool basement wtih the carboys in a tub iof water that had ice added twice daily. I was surprised by this , but here I am.

My plan is to backsweeten with lactose. I'm planning on 1 pound per 5 gallons. I'll dissolve it in water, heat it to around 180 F for 10 minutes, cool it, and then add to my carboys.

Does this seem like the right approach to add body and some sweetness?

How much water do you think I'll need?

 

[yodalegomaster]

Can I Make a simpler suggestion? I would just add a little Splenda, the packets contain a much higher concentrated sweat taste, than the baking Splenda. But the Bulking agent in Splenda is Maltodextrin, the same thing as in carapils malt. If you want to add sweetness and bulk then I would add just the baking version of Splenda. I Like a sweeter beer, and I use splenda all the time no one can pick up the difference.

 

[malkore]

my two cents: pour a known volume of the beer, and sweeten to taste (measuring the sweetener).

Throwing a pound of lactose may or may not improve things...take a slightly more scientific approach and you'll have much better results.

One guy in my local brew club will take a mead and add flavoring at different concentrations, bottle them all, and have us gauge where the sweet spot was.