Has anyone done this before?

[GlenQuagmire]

So, I have an idea in my head, but no idea how it would turn out, or if anyone has tried it before...

Milk stouts are delicious...and there are a plethora of wonderful examples of them out there.

But...

Has anyone ever tried using lactose in any other kind of beer? Specifically, something markedly lighter...from an amber to even a hefeweizen?

Summery beers are generally crisp and bitter. But I'm not a huge fan of the uber-bitter type IPAs that currently reign supreme. I've done hefeweizens before...I like those. I'm curious how the milk and wheat would play with each other...but open to other possible combos as well. Another driver of this is my wife, who much prefers sweeter things, and generally is not a beer person. She was amenable to the milk stout I made over the winter though, sooooo.....

I'm very much a novice. I like experimenting and trying new ideas. But if several people have tried it and it's always awful, I also don't want to be wasteful.

 

[madscientist451]

Experimenting is a good thing, if you want to give it a shot, go ahead.
But there are really not than many "new" things to try, almost everything has been done before and if it works good, you'd be able to find someone talking about it.
My G/F is not a really a beer person either, she doesn't like hoppy bitter beers or funky Belgians. She does like roasty and sweet stouts and a recent maibock I made that came out with a rich mouthfeel and was somewhat sweet.
So try to narrow down what flavor and mouthfeel profile you are looking for. A good method is to seek out commercial examples of what you might like and go from there.
Your choice of malts, mash temperature and yeast selection will all be contributing factors; adding lactose could enhance a beer's flavor, but it might not. In a stout, the lactose helps balance the roasty notes usually found in a stout. Adding lactose to something like a crisp summer lager, may work, but the sweetness could turn the beer into something you aren't expecting, something that doesn't have the "drink-ability" you'd like.
There's a thread on Reddit about lactose in a Hefeweizen:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/2v92q9/hefeweizen_with_lactose/#bottom-comments

 

[jmark]

Lactose is being used a lot these days in those NE style beers that folks want to call IPAs despite having a distinct lack of bitterness specifically, the sub-category of these that get the disgusting sounding name of 'milkshake' IPAs.

 

[bajaedition]

I use lactose to adjust a mash PH

 

[derekcw83]

I am going to make a blueberry cream ale in a few weeks, using lactose, flaked barley, flaked oats, and lots of blueberries of course. Those are the extra ingredients I'm putting in my recipe in hopes for a sweet, creamy, blueberry flavored cream style ale. Could be a bust, but could be awesome, just experimenting.

 

[day_trippr]

I use lactose to adjust a mash PH

How'd that work out for you?

 

[FatDragon]

A local brewpub puts some lactose in their pineapple pale ale to balance out the tart flavors of the pineapple. It's delicious.

 

[bajaedition]

How'd that work out for you?

great. it was in extract form and I needed a small adjustment. beat adding a chemical listed on the DOT Hazardous Chemical list to my beer