How do I back “un-sweeten"??

[steelersrbrun]

I made a chocolate peanut butter milk stout. I added 2 lbs of lactose and you can REALLY taste that mistake. It's kegged and I need a way to back “un-sweeten” it. I thought about adding coffee to add some bitterness but I really have no idea how to make it drinkable.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

How much room do you have in the keg? If you have enough room, I'd brew a little 0.5-1.0 gallon batch that is similar to the base beer (minus the lactose, of course ) with maybe a little extra cocoa or roasted barley.

 

[steelersrbrun]

How much room do you have in the keg? If you have enough room, I'd brew a little 0.5-1.0 gallon batch that is similar to the base beer (minus the lactose, of course ) with maybe a little extra cocoa or roasted barley.

I should have atleast 1/2 gallon.....so just do a mini batch, ferment it out and rack into the keg...hmmm.....I will if needed but I dont have any yeast and dont want to spend too much more on this batch......

 

[runningweird]

you're going to need more watering down than that, I would suggest brewing another full batch and splitting it into 2.5 gallons then mixing each new 2.5 with 2.5 from your old batch. better to be low on sweet than to do all that mini batch stuff and still end up with liquid ice cream beer.

 

[steelersrbrun]

you're going to need more watering down than that, I would suggest brewing another full batch and splitting it into 2.5 gallons then mixing each new 2.5 with 2.5 from your old batch. better to be low on sweet than to do all that mini batch stuff and still end up with liquid ice cream beer.

Makes sense.....this beer has been the bane of my existence....when I get an open fermenter I suppose I have no choice. I should have everything I need but the yeast. No chance time, coffee or some cold steep liquid would fix it?

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Makes sense.....this beer has been the bane of my existence....when I get an open fermenter I suppose I have no choice. I should have everything I need but the yeast. No chance time, coffee or some cold steep liquid would fix it?

You added about twice the lactose you needed so your beer is about twice as sweet as it should be. The only way to balance it out is to either blend it down or add bitterness, but you would have to add a lot of bitterness. It would probably end up tasting not good.

Better to have twice as much good beer than five gallons of bad beer.

 

[eastoak]

dump it and move on to the next batch or pour more time and money into the chocolate peanut butter disaster.

 

[steelersrbrun]

You added about twice the lactose you needed so your beer is about twice as sweet as it should be. The only way to balance it out is to either blend it down or add bitterness, but you would have to add a lot of bitterness. It would probably end up tasting not good.

Better to have twice as much good beer than five gallons of bad beer.

Can't fight that logic

 

[dmckean44]

I wonder if you could just rack it back into a carboy on top of a teaspoon of lactase and new yeast and let it ferment all the way out.

 

[steelersrbrun]

I wonder if you could just rack it back into a carboy on top of a teaspoon of lactase and new yeast and let it ferment all the way out.

Not sure I understand. Does lactase breakdown lactose into a fermentable?

 

[dmckean44]

Not sure I understand. Does lactase breakdown lactose into a fermentable?

Yes, but you might end up with even a bigger mess because it's going to probably dry out the beer and leave too little body. That plus the extra alcohol that would be created could completely unbalance the beer.

 

[fastricky]

dump it and move on to the next batch or pour more time and money into the chocolate peanut butter disaster.

This is the answer. Sorry.

 

[steelersrbrun]

This is the answer. Sorry.

Man that sucks.

 

[steelersrbrun]

Man that sucks.

I can't bring myself to do it.....started to eisbock it tonight...hope I have something interesting by tomorrow night.

 

[usfmikeb]

you're going to need more watering down than that, I would suggest brewing another full batch and splitting it into 2.5 gallons then mixing each new 2.5 with 2.5 from your old batch.

Yep, I don't think I've ever seen a 5 gal stout recipe with more than 1 lb of lactose in it.

 

[steelersrbrun]

Yep, I don't think I've ever seen a 5 gal stout recipe with more than 1 lb of lactose in it.

Yeah....for good reason....it does have an odd off flavor...it's not over sweet it just has this weird twang in the finish....it was an accident....never again. Measure twice pour once....I grabbed the wrong bag

 

[usfmikeb]

That resonates with me, as lactose does add some flavoring beyond sweetness, as well as some mouthful.