Lactose didn't work!?

[kjjohns5]

I used 1.5 lbs of lactose in a milk stout that I brewed a week ago today. I got 80% efficiency on the brew and added the lactose sugar at 10 min left in the boil. I tried the beer today and it's not sweet at all!

I used 0.5 oz of Columbus @ 60 min for 27.3 IBUs, so it's not that bitter.

Has anyone had this issue before? How can I make this thing sweeter now?

 

[passedpawn]

more lactose. Or, you could add splenda or any other artificial sugar.

 

[the_bird]

Well, lactose isn't a terribly sweet sugar, so it's never going to be overwhelmingly sweet. Still, give it time before you worry, you say that it's not very bitter but the bitterness that's there will tend to abate as the beer ferments out. Let it finish conditioning before worrying too much. Some of the roastiness may mellow out as well, letting some of the sweetness come through.

What was the beer's original gravity? Most of the sweetness is still going to come from the malt bill, not any non-fermentable sugars you may add. I don't really think of a milk stout as being a terrible *sweet* beer anyway - full and smooth, but not sweet like a barleywine or a wee heavy is sweet (both of those get their sweetness from huge malt bills).

There always is the option of adding a non-fermentable, artificial sweetener, but to me that's the nuclear option.

 

[kjjohns5]

OG was 1.061, FG was 1.022. I'm not really that upset with the attenuation, I just calculated a FG of 1.015. No biggie there.

I was hoping for a desert stout, though. Everything I've read said that lactose would make this thing very sweet but sweetness is virtually non existant.

If I were to add more lactose, how would I go about doing that (assuming that I'll need to)? Would I boil water and disolve the lactose then pitch it?

I guess I'll wait and taste it again in a few days? I was going to wrack it perhaps tonight. It's been in the primary for a week today.

 

[the_bird]

Lactose isn't going to make any beer "very" sweet. If you've still got some, give it a taste - it's a subtle sweetness, it's as much for body as it is for sweetness. And, I really don't think of a milk stout as being a dessert-ey beer, especially since you've got the roasted malt counterbalancing the sweetness.

In addition to bumping the grain bill, adding more crystal malt (especially lower lovibond crystals) will increase the sweetness.

 

[kjjohns5]

I actually don't have any roasted malts in this grain bill. I wanted to make a dessert beer that was a Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Instead of a lighter beer, I wanted use a milk stout as the base for the "latte" part. Here's the recipe:

10 lbs 2 Row
3.75 lbs Pumpkin
1.5 lbs Chocolate Malt
1 lb Rice Hulls
0.5 lbs Carmel 60L

0.5 oz Columbus (15.4%) @ 60 min

1 tsp Pumpkin Spice @ 10 min
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon @ 10 min
1.5 lbs Lactose @ 10 min

I didn't put any roasted malts in because I didn't want it fighting with the pumpkin flavor. I succeeded in this. There is a slight roast taste and smell from the large amount of chocolate malt, and it balances very nicely with the pumpkin taste. I'm going to add more pumpkin spice and cinnamon at bottling because I wanted it to be a bit more prominant. I'm also going to add a little bit of coffee to this in the secondary to give it that touch of esspresso flavor that pumpkin lattes have. Not going crazy with the coffee though.

I was hoping that this beer would be sweet though, with a strong pumpkin flavor, and a secondar coffee note.

The lactose, I was hoping, would make it sweet and provide good body characteristics that this style has.

 

[cedar_lake]

I was surprised at how subtle the sweetness of lactose is. I used a pound to backsweeten a 5 gallon batch of cider, and I would never call what I got in the end "sweet." (It did take a distracting "bite" out of the equation, though, resulting a in a delicious beverage!)

 

[jfr1111]

Chocolate malt IS roasted and ou added a good serving of it. Your caramel bill is lowish if you wanted a dessert beer.

Lactose doesn't taste all that sweet to me anyway, but it does to some people. I asked about brewing a Sweet Stout without lactose, and got some great tips:
1) More caramel malt
2) Honey malt (wich is supposedly very sweet)
3) Boiling longer to encourage caramelization
4) Using a lower attenuation strain
5) Bigger grain bill

 

[kjjohns5]

Sorry, I should have clarrified on the grain bill: no roasted barley or black malt.

So basically a sweet stout isn't sweet? Or at least not sweet due to lactose, but because of other factors?

 

[Pappers_]

Sorry, I should have clarrified on the grain bill: no roasted barley or black malt.

So basically a sweet stout isn't sweet? Or at least not sweet due to lactose, but because of other factors?

Sweet compared to most (all) beers - yes. Sweet compared to dessert wine, meads or ciders - no.

I think a good cream (milk or sweet) stout is all about balance - bitter and malt, roasti-ness and sweet. It doesn't taste 'sweet' like candy - it would be out of balance.

 

[kjjohns5]

Man, where were you guys when I was making this recipe? lol.

Guess I'll have to just settle with pumpkin and coffee flavor. No sweetness. I still may elect to use another 0.5 lbs of lactose at priming.

So if I were to add some lactose at priming, how would I go about that process? Boil like primming sugar?

 

[the_bird]

Sure, you could even boil it alongside the priming sugar. I'd still give it a little while for the roastiness and the hops that you did add to settle down - there's a bit difference in any beer between week one and week three.

 

[stevedasleeve]

Hey I'll trade you. I hate sweet stout but I made some by mistake. Sweet & chocolaty beer blech...!

 

[Pappers_]

I hate sweet stout but I made some by mistake.

I hate it when I make beer by mistake

 

[SwampassJ]

Sorry, I should have clarrified on the grain bill: no roasted barley or black malt.

So basically a sweet stout isn't sweet? Or at least not sweet due to lactose, but because of other factors?

You would need a lot more crystal malt to make it sweet. Chocolate malt is a highly roasted malt that will add to the perceived dryness and bitterness like Roasted and Black will. If you try to make it again try lowering it or subbing in Pale Chocolate Malt (200L), everyone says it lends a much smoother and nutty taste, and use something like a lb or more of crystal.

 

[Revvy]

I hate it when I make beer by mistake

I dunno, the other day I was eating popcorn, and I kept getting those half popped ones that were mostly still kernals....and I kept spitting those into a cup, and next thing thing you know it started to bubble and ferment.....






So I sent it to Sam Caligone.

 

[JLem]

An FG of 1.022 sounds like the lactose worked. As you've discovered and as others have already said - lactose will leave some body and creaminess and some residual sweetness, but not a ton. I second the suggestion of using more crystal malt (or honey malt) for increased sweetness in the next batch. I would be hesitant to add more lactose at this point - you've already noticed how little sweetness you got from 1.5 lbs. How much more would you need to add to get your desired sweetness?

 

[ArcaneXor]

A pound and a half is quite a lot of lactose, but I have learned that perception of lactose sweetness is one of those things that varies from person to person. My Pumpkin Porter (similar recipe to yours, except only 1 lbs of chocolate malt) had half a pound of lactose in it, and I thought it was plenty sweet.
As others have suggested, honey malt in particular is extremely effective at creating a perception of residual sweetness, even in otherwise dry and roasty beers, so I would suggest adding some of it on your next try.