Interesting question ....

[MT2sum]

I'm planning to brew a Love2Brew Imperial Stout, but about a week earlier, I'll brew a Milk Stout. The Imperial takes 21 weeks, and the Milk Stout only takes about 5 weeks (that way I have something to drink in the meantime ;>).
An interesting question was recently posed to me - what's the difference between a stout and a milk stout .... well that wasn't too hard, a milk stout has non-fermentable sugars in it to make it sweeter. So then, it was asked, if you leave out the non-fermentable sugars, will it turn out to be just like a regular stout?
I looked at some of the many recipes posted here (all with differing ingredients), but never having tried this with any of my own favorite milk stout recipe, I thought I'd seek some experience here instead .... (I hate the idea of having to throw out 5 gallons of brew that might still have been usable had I not held back on the lactose.) The recipes I have looked at are pretty dis-similar, so that's why I'm putting it up for other people's opinions.

1. If you leave out the lactose, will the stout come out just like a regular stout, or will it need more/other grains?
2. If you need more/other grains, what would you do to make the resulting stout smell/taste/look right (in your opinion)?

Depending on the answers, I may/may not try this with an extract/partial extract kit from NB, Morebeer, Love2brew, etc., rather than mess up my own favorite recipes.
Just an interesting question that I got from a local non-homebrewer.
Thanks

 

[bobeer]

The only things I can think of is that lactose adds gravity to the beer so you might have to adjust the grist slightly. IBU's you might want to look into also. With the lactose I'd think you'd have to account for the extra sweetness so there might be a higher IBU than what you'd want in a non-milk stout recipe if you left out the lactose.

I'd plug the milk stout recipe into Beersmith as is then take out the lactose and see what all the stats look like. If it looks good to you then go for it.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

The amount of lactose in a typical milk stout will have a slight effect (4 or 5 points) on OG and very little effect on IBUs. You could add a little extract to compensate or just let it slide. It won't make a big difference. Obviously, the FG will be lower to make it a little drier, which is the whole point of leaving the lactose out.

 

[MT2sum]

I'd plug the milk stout recipe into Beersmith as is then take out the lactose and see what all the stats look like. If it looks good to you then go for it.

Duhhhh, that makes me feel like a dummy! Great Idea! I don't know why I didn't think of that .... Thanks :>)

 

[MT2sum]

The amount of lactose in a typical milk stout will have a slight effect (4 or 5 points) on OG and very little effect on IBUs. You could add a little extract to compensate or just let it slide. It won't make a big difference. Obviously, the FG will be lower to make it a little drier, which is the whole point of leaving the lactose out.

I'll keep that in mind if I try it, I still haven't decided whether or not .... Thanks.