Sweet Stout Left Hand Milk Stout Clone

[bottlebomber]

Hmm. The airlock is still bubbling. Maybe I could boil the pound of lactose tonight, cool it, and tossed it in. I think that is a better option than me making an entirely new batch of basically the same thing this friday (now I can chill or make something else). What do yall think? I was so disappointed in forgetting about the lactose because the mash and sparge was one of the best I have had.

Do it, and expect the beer to come out identical to if you had remembered.

 

[keezerj]

Just took a gravity reading after 2 weeks in the primary. I'm at 1.018. Don't know why I over attenuated. I thought I hit all my temps. I was maybe 3 Points short on original gravity. Could that have something to do with it? Do you guys think it will be too dry?

 

[insanim8er]

Just took a gravity reading after 2 weeks in the primary. I'm at 1.018. Don't know why I over attenuated. I thought I hit all my temps. I was maybe 3 Points short on original gravity. Could that have something to do with it? Do you guys think it will be too dry?

Nope. Mine finished at 1.017. It was fantastic and got rave reviews by stout and non stout drinkers alike. It was so good in fact, that ill never do a 5 gal batch again. Ill only brew this in 10+ gal batches.

Enjoy

 

[keezerj]

Nope. Mine finished at 1.017. It was fantastic and got rave reviews by stout and non stout drinkers alike. It was so good in fact, that ill never do a 5 gal batch again. Ill only brew this in 10+ gal batches.

Enjoy

Thanks for the quick response. I'm only like 8 beers in on all grain and bought all the stuff for 5 gallon batches and I'm already wishing I had bought the set up for 10 gallon.

 

[insanim8er]

Thanks for the quick response. I'm only like 8 beers in on all grain and bought all the stuff for 5 gallon batches and I'm already wishing I had bought the set up for 10 gallon.

Ya I just scored this 20 gallon Blichmann boilermaker (with the false bottom) for $200 on Craig's list the other day.

A 10 gal batch of this will be my first brew with it. I'm going add orange to half for an orange cream stout

 

[bottlebomber]

Ya I just scored this 20 gallon Blichmann boilermaker (with the false bottom) for $200 on Craig's list the other day. A 10 gal batch of this will be my first brew with it. I'm going add orange to half for an orange cream stout

Dude, nice score! Usually you have to pay for one of those with the child.

 

[insanim8er]

Dude, nice score! Usually you have to pay for one of those with the child.

And that's why you don't see the other kid in the photo....

 

[eyedoctodd]

Hmm. The airlock is still bubbling. Maybe I could boil the pound of lactose tonight, cool it, and tossed it in. I think that is a better option than me making an entirely new batch of basically the same thing this friday (now I can chill or make something else). What do yall think? I was so disappointed in forgetting about the lactose because the mash and sparge was one of the best I have had.

Boil it, chill it and toss it in tonight. Won't make a big difference if any, but you know you want to. It's so obvious!

 

[beamar]

Just wondering, this just see's normal carbing via co2 in a keg?

 

[daveooph131]

Anyone use marris otter as the base malt for this?

Also what does the flaked barley add exactly?

 

[insanim8er]

Anyone use marris otter as the base malt for this?

Also what does the flaked barley add exactly?

I havent, but don't see why it wouldn't be good. Might be a little more biscuit flavor.

Flaked barley is used in stouts for added protein to give better head retention and body.

 

[dave8274]

Brewing this today. The wife is looking forward to it!

 

[insanim8er]

Brewing this today. The wife is looking forward to it!

Man you should be looking forward to it too...It won't disappoint.

 

[dave8274]

Man you should be looking forward to it too...It won't disappoint.

I am, as long as it isn't too sweet.

 

[dave8274]

Well, ended up at 1.060 but with 5.33 gallons instead of 5, so probably just added a little too much water. Other than that, all went perfectly. Re-hydrating my yeast now, while the wort cools a bit more. hoping for some great beer!

 

[brewski09]

I am, as long as it isn't too sweet.

It's sweet, but in that delicious sort of way.

On yeast rehydrating, BYO & BBR did an experiment where they had better results not rehydrating. Anyone read this and have thoughts ???

http://byo.com/stories/item/2434-should-you-rehydrate-your-dried-yeast?viewDesktop=true

 

[dave8274]

It's sweet, but in that delicious sort of way.

On yeast rehydrating, BYO & BBR did an experiment where they had better results not rehydrating. Anyone read this and have thoughts ???

http://byo.com/stories/item/2434-should-you-rehydrate-your-dried-yeast?viewDesktop=true

Funny you mention that, I was just researching that yesterday. I concluded that the results were about the same, so I figured I might as well do it for the higher cell count. I had some free time waiting for the wort to come down to pitching temperature anyway.

 

[insanim8er]

Funny you mention that, I was just researching that yesterday. I concluded that the results were about the same, so I figured I might as well do it for the higher cell count. I had some free time waiting for the wort to come down to pitching temperature anyway.

I think it's just one of those things. Those who do it, swear by it. Those who don't, swear by it. Those who don't care, swear at those who debate it.

Regardless... the end result = Beer

 

[brewski09]

I think it's just one of those things. Those who do it, swear by it. Those who don't, swear by it. Those who don't care, swear at those who debate it.

Regardless... the end result = Beer

A fair enough assessment.

 

[brewski09]

Funny you mention that, I was just researching that yesterday. I concluded that the results were about the same, so I figured I might as well do it for the higher cell count. I had some free time waiting for the wort to come down to pitching temperature anyway.

I think the BYO-BBR experiment actually had better results not rehydrating though. In the end, I tend to use a liquid culture of Cry Havoc that I've been farming for almost 2 years with great success now so my dry pitches are the "oh crap, I forgot I don't have that yeast anymore" variety.

I really don't think you can hurt anything by rehydrating or dry pitching in the end, so this o e is all brewer preference. :cheers:

 

[insanim8er]

I had a great brew day with some friends yesterday. We brewed up 10 gallons of this fantastic milk stout.

I had a HELL of a time with my barley crusher, so after a few hours of messing with it, we finally got it working. The gap was larger than desired, so I did a double crush.

According to the efficency calculations, I ended up with 93% efficency.

Since I only had two 1/4 kegs to ferment in, I wanted to keep them close to 5.5 gallons ea. I added some extra wort from the last of the second runnings (about 1.019) to lower the gravity, but I ended up with 11 gal @ 1.077 OG (at 10mins left in the boil prior to adding the milk stout)

I'm looking at about 10.5 gallons of ~ 7-7.5%

I'm happy!

 

[eujamfh]

just poured my first taste yesterday. Simply delicious. We did a blind tasting with some commercial stours and this was clearly the winner. It is about 60 days since brew day and it tastes grand - I think it will be at its peak in a couple weeks…but I do not think it will last.

Ordering grains to do a 10g batch next weekend...

 

[D_Nyholm]

Tasted ours 2 weeks from fermentation and it is great. A little too much sweetness after the fact but we put in too much lactose by accident. Can't wait for another 3 weeks!

 

[daveooph131]

Tasted ours 2 weeks from fermentation and it is great. A little too much sweetness after the fact but we put in too much lactose by accident. Can't wait for another 3 weeks!

How much lactose?

 

[insanim8er]

Tasted ours 2 weeks from fermentation and it is great. A little too much sweetness after the fact but we put in too much lactose by accident. Can't wait for another 3 weeks!

That sucks. How did you manage that? The bags I get only come in 1lb bags.

 

[D_Nyholm]

Made an 11 gallon batch and knew I needed more than 2 lbs, had a leftover bag from a previous small batch and told my buddy to put in all the lactose as I went in to help put one of the kids to sleep. Needless to say, 2 lbs 12 oz went into it when it should have been like 2 lbs 4 oz. It honestly tastes great, bit after the pint I had past night, the sweetness like sticks to your tongue. You don't taste it much at first, just after you drank the entire one.

 

[rbyount]

Brewed this up as my second all grain attempt. SWMBO prefers stouts, so goal was to ensure happiness for support in my brewing endeavors. Brew day was August 24, 10 days in the primary, 10 days in the secondary, and a month in the bottle. Tried a bottle earlier and it wasn't ready, but had one last Friday and it was drinkable. Tonight I put this brew in a blind comparison with a Left Hand Milk Stout and presented them to SWMBO looking for critical and constructive feedback. Head was similar in both, the LHMS aroma was better than the homebrew (IMO) and I could taste the need for some additional aging on the home brew but ... my beloved bride liked both without any critical feedback - in fact she picked the homebrew as the commercial product.

ADX - my thanks to you for starting this thread with your recipe and allowing noobs like me to enjoy the fruits of your experience.

 

[insanim8er]

Made an 11 gallon batch and knew I needed more than 2 lbs, had a leftover bag from a previous small batch and told my buddy to put in all the lactose as I went in to help put one of the kids to sleep. Needless to say, 2 lbs 12 oz went into it when it should have been like 2 lbs 4 oz. It honestly tastes great, bit after the pint I had past night, the sweetness like sticks to your tongue. You don't taste it much at first, just after you drank the entire one.

Ooh... I did 11 and kept it at 2lb. I did 5.5 my first batch and the 1lb was fantastic, so I didn't bother getting another lb for an extra 4oz. Mine just finished fermenting... 2 more weeks and I can keg it.

 

[insanim8er]

Brewed this up as my second all grain attempt. SWMBO prefers stouts, so goal was to ensure happiness for support in my brewing endeavors. Brew day was August 24, 10 days in the primary, 10 days in the secondary, and a month in the bottle. Tried a bottle earlier and it wasn't ready, but had one last Friday and it was drinkable. Tonight I put this brew in a blind comparison with a Left Hand Milk Stout and presented them to SWMBO looking for critical and constructive feedback. Head was similar in both, the LHMS aroma was better than the homebrew (IMO) and I could taste the need for some additional aging on the home brew but ... my beloved bride liked both without any critical feedback - in fact she picked the homebrew as the commercial product.

ADX - my thanks to you for starting this thread with your recipe and allowing noobs like me to enjoy the fruits of your experience.

Man I must be the odd man out... My girl drinks more than me. She drinks anything but IPA, unless it's heavy on flavor hops and not bitter. But I got her hooked on the all grain graffs I've been making. Do a graff for her. You can't go wrong there.

As far as this LHMS clone goes, it's better than the real deal IMO. But I kegged mine while I tried theirs in bottles.

 

[D_Nyholm]

Ooh... I did 11 and kept it at 2lb. I did 5.5 my first batch and the 1lb was fantastic, so I didn't bother getting another lb for an extra 4oz. Mine just finished fermenting... 2 more weeks and I can keg it.

Yeah, thinking the same thing for the next time (as I know we will brew this again). 2 lbs or 2lbs 4 oz. Not much difference so ill keep it easy and go 2

Just wish I had my nitro setup going, this would be awesome on nitro.