Brewing a Stout NOW and need help...

[Vismich]

I'm brewing a stout that I purchased from a local brew store by me . Recipe and ingredients all came in a box. Its my first stout, so I figured this would be easy...

That said, I'm not sure if the store made an error or subsituted.

The recipe text calls for the cans of malted extract and lactose...

That said, there is no mention of lactose in the ingredients list,.. Can that be in with my bags or cans of extract??

 

[helibrewer]

It is generally seperate...a dry ingedient in a sealed plastic bag....is this a milk stout?

 

[Vismich]

No, it says American Stout. It's not on the ingredient list, but makes mention of it in the instructions

See the pics and tell me what you think. Just steaping now...

 

[helibrewer]

Looks like a great recipe, ignore the reference to lactose in the directions and press on, it will make an excellent stout.

Lactose isn't fermentable by beer yeast so it is used to make "milk", "sweet", "cream" or other such named stouts.

Good luck!!!

 

[Brek81]

my recommendation is don't sweat it. you can add the lactose later if you think you want it, but shouldn't need it.

 

[bovineblitz]

The instructions are probably copy pasted and they just forgot to remove the lactose. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Vismich]

So here is what's odd... The ingredients and the directions don't match anywhere... Here is a pic of what I have.

There is no mention of the Bavarian wheat, and it doesn't tell you when to put in the golden light...

Thoughts?

 

[bovineblitz]

Okay so I assume you just have generic directions. Just put in the golden light extract when you put in the other extract.

STIR REALLY WELL and for a while so that it doesn't scorch to the bottom of the pot.

The wheat is interesting, I assume that's extract as well?

edit: maybe you should list the ingredients you have so we can be sure it makes sense.

 

[helibrewer]

Typically all of that would go into the kettle for boiling along with the liquid from your steeping grains.

However, if you are doing a partial boil (3 gallon boil) then I would add 1 can of liquid and the dry Golden for the full boil time. At the end of the boil time, take the kettle off the heat and add the other can and the dry wheat and stir to thoroughly dissolve, then add the balance of your water.

 

[Shinglejohn]

What are your steeping grains?

 

[Vismich]

Yea, steaping grains...

 

[Vismich]

I mean, I'm going to be adding 6.6 lbs of extract syrup, and 2 lbs of extract powder... Seems like a Ton

 

[harrydrez]

It isn't going to be a small sout but it isn't so huge. Malt syrup has a lot of water in it so you need to add more.

 

[Seven]

I'm brewing a stout that I purchased from a local brew store by me . Recipe and ingredients all came in a box. Its my first stout, so I figured this would be easy...

That said, I'm not sure if the store made an error or subsituted.

The recipe text calls for the cans of malted extract and lactose...

That said, there is no mention of lactose in the ingredients list,.. Can that be in with my bags or cans of extract??

Have you contacted the store where you bought this kit to ask for clarification?

 

[helibrewer]

Seven....don't get all logical on us now....LOL Great idea if they are still open but he's in Jersey so I'm thinking they are long past closing time.

 

[Vismich]

Seven,

I tried, they are closed. I started boiling before I noticed all this. I'm plowing ahead... Who knows, penicillin was made on accident.... Maybe it'll be awesome

 

[Seven]

Looks like a great recipe, ignore the reference to lactose in the directions and press on, it will make an excellent stout.

Lactose isn't fermentable by beer yeast so it is used to make "milk", "sweet", "cream" or other such named stouts.

Good luck!!!

+1. I missed that you were in the process of brewing this NOW. Lactose can probably be safely skipped as it just adds some sweetness and mouthfeel to the beer but you'll still get good results without it.

 

[badbrew]

I don't get why companies don't include the "kit" in the can instead of telling you to buy more. They could easily pack a 7 lb can as easy as the 3-4 lb cans. It kind of seems like fraud unless they expect you to brew a 2-3% abv brew with very little taste.

 

[bovineblitz]

I don't get why companies don't include the "kit" in the can instead of telling you to buy more. They could easily pack a 7 lb can as easy as the 3-4 lb cans. It kind of seems like fraud unless they expect you to brew a 2-3% abv brew with very little taste.

I think it's just mass production. They can mass produce 3lb cans and you can use a couple of them. Much easier than making custom sized cans for different beers... plus the malt extract producers are not in the business of selling kits.

 

[RM-MN]

Have you tried holding a 7 pound can in one hand over the boiling water while stirring like mad with the other? I can manage to control (just barely) a 3 pound can but I don't think I could get my hand wrapped far enough around a 7 pounder and it would end up on the floor or in the water.