Beersmith: Hitting my numbers with lactose

[PDevlin75]

It is a known issue that BeerSmith treats lactose as fermentable, when it shouldn't. I have it listed in my ingredients and the OG would be 1.064 with the lactose. Without, it should be 1.058. I intend to add it at bottling anyway, so it's NOT currently in my batch.

So here's the thing, I still hit the OG of 1.064... Had it come up short, I would have attributed it to the lactose addition, and would have been fine with that. But instead, I hit the predicted numbers even though that prediction is known to be wrong. Is this just a coincidence? Good efficiency? Something in the software?

Thanks!
-Pete

 

[brewfun]

There isn't enough information in your post to completely evaluate the issue. Please post the recipe (at least the grains, volumes and gravities as measured through your process)

Since lactose isn't in your recipe, you either have higher brewhouse efficiency than you thought, or less volume. Either way, the numbers you've entered for your system seem to be incorrect since they don't match your outcome. If you enter all of your measured gravities and volumes, you'll see a calculated brewhouse efficiency in the Fermentation tab. Use this number in your equipment profile and make sure your target volumes match your actual measurements.

BeerSmith adds all sugars to the total OG, regardless of fermentability. Just double click on the lactose and make sure the "Not Fermentable" box is checked. This will ensure that the sugars' contribution to gravity appears in the FG without being reduced by attenuation.

 

[m00ps]

If I remember correctly 1 lb of lactose add +0.008 to the OG *and* FG so jsut adjust your estimation accordingly (this is for a 5gal batch)

 

[tomaso]

#i just brewed a milk stout yesterday and was thinking the same but in my case I discovered that while the lactose correctly increases the starting and final gravity of the beer it doesn't change the alcohol volume because, as beersmith also says in the information on lactose, it isn't fermentable.

I.e. in my case with the lactose in the recipe my OG is 1,059 and FG 1,023, ABV%4,8 and scrapping the lactose my OG is 1,052 and my FG 1,015 while ABV is still 4.8%.

Maybe I misunderstood your post but to me it makes sense and beersmith seems to handle it correctly. I'd also attribute your case to an efficiency spike that seems to come from the 'twilight zone'

 

[PDevlin75]

Since lactose isn't in your recipe, you either have higher brewhouse efficiency than you thought, or less volume.

And there ya have it kids! Going back into BeerSmith really quick, I removed the Lactose from my grain bill, which brought the predicted OG down to 1.058. But in my equipment profiles, my efficiency is listed at the default of 75%... If I change it to 83%, then the numbers line up.

I know there are more official ways to calculate my efficiency, but just non-scientifically fudging the numbers in a very reasonable way does help answer the question! Noob question at that, but hey, live and learn!

Thanks!