Did I Just Ruin A Milk Stout?

[krenshaw]

adding lactose at bottling/kegging time is ideal to decide on how much sweetness you want to add, you can take a very small sample and add some, then if you like it you can multiple it out to the whole batch.. i was going to do that to my choc stout i have kegged now but SWMBO vetoed the use of lactose.. so i can't call it a "Milk Choc Stout" anymore :-( sigh..

 

[TheMagicHatter]

Alright, so finally an update after bottling and conditioning for a few weeks.

The stout is awesome! It didn't come out as thick and milky as expected, but enough of the lactose dissolved to give it enough of a mouth feel of a milk stout.

Throughout the time in secondary, I would regularly rock, shake, and spin the carboy in hopes of getting as much lactose to dissolve as possible. There was still a good bit of it left over when I bottled, but it still turned out better than expected.

I'm planning on brewing it again, but maybe going with a bit more Crystal 120 to give it even more of a dark, roasty, flavor.


Thanks for your input everyone!

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

I'm planning on brewing it again, but maybe going with a bit more Crystal 120 to give it even more of a dark, roasty, flavor.

c-120 will give you more of a burnt caramel flavor than a roasty flavor. What was your percentage of roasted malt in this recipe? A good milk stout should be around 10% roasted malts.

 

[discooby]

black roasted barley @ 3-4% works nicely with a stout

 

[TheMagicHatter]

c-120 will give you more of a burnt caramel flavor than a roasty flavor. What was your percentage of roasted malt in this recipe? A good milk stout should be around 10% roasted malts.

This is the extract recipe I used.

12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 1 8.8 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.8 %
6 lbs Dark Liquid Extract (17.5 SRM) Extract 3 70.6 %
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 4 11.8 %
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 28.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728) [124.21 ml] Yeast 6 -

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

This is the extract recipe I used.

12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 1 8.8 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.8 %
6 lbs Dark Liquid Extract (17.5 SRM) Extract 3 70.6 %
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 4 11.8 %
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 28.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728) [124.21 ml] Yeast 6 -

Looks like you may need some more roast barley or black patent to make it more roasty and coffee like. Do you know what is all in the dark LME? I would start there and then build in the remaining roasted malts into the steeping grains. I can help you with that if you wish.

 

[Steelfball]

I did something similar. I started with 8oz into the boil but when i racked it to the secondary, it wasnt sweet enough. I added another 8oz into the secondary but i did add it into a "wort" of boiled water and lactose, cooled then added to the secondary. Came out great.

Sit and wait. Good luck.

 

[Sycamore_Rocks_Craft_beer]

so how did it turn out? Or how is it turning out?

 

[ViperMan]

Lactose scares the sh!t outta me... I've had 2 beers get ruined by lactose infections, and that was WITH boiling it in the wort for the last 10-15 minutes...

I take my sanitation to Monk-like levels of dedication when working with lactose, and frankly I avoid using it if I can.

 

[sweetcell]

Lactose scares the sh!t outta me... I've had 2 beers get ruined by lactose infections, and that was WITH boiling it in the wort for the last 10-15 minutes...

I take my sanitation to Monk-like levels of dedication when working with lactose, and frankly I avoid using it if I can.

that doesn't make sense. if you boiled it for 10+ minutes, there is no way it could have caused an infection. that stuff was deader than moon dust.

did you mean a lacto (lactobacillus) infection? that has nothing to do with lactose.

 

[TheMagicHatter]

so how did it turn out? Or how is it turning out?

It seems to changing from week to week. It definitely has a chocolaty aroma, but more of a smokey/wood taste to it. It's not what I had expected, but it's pretty damn good.

Given that I didn't had the lactose until the secondary, it's not as much of a mouthful as expected.

Also, I think next time I brew and bottle this, I'll use less priming sugar. It was a bit more carbonated than I would have liked for a stout. Then again, I'm not exactly sure if a good way to carbonate a bottled stout.

 

[sweetcell]

Also, I think next time I brew and bottle this, I'll use less priming sugar. It was a bit more carbonated than I would have liked for a stout. Then again, I'm not exactly sure if a good way to carbonate a bottled stout.

use a priming calculator like http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/ and measure your priming sugar.

 

[meshbackhats]

Different strain. There is a brewery in Cleveland that advertises open fermentation. Stuff gets pretty undrinkable. He has a wild lacto infection he couldn't get rid of. Not sure if that is still the case but I won't/don't drink his beer.

Which brewery is that? I'd like to check it out

 

[Hermit]

Which brewery is that? I'd like to check it out

Indigo Imp. You have been warned.