Sweet Stout Milk Stout

[cgm]

Hmmm... I kegged it just now... my gravity after the boil was 1.072 @ 65-70 degrees. I cold crashed, so the temp is down to 36 degrees and my final gravity is 1.004. Beersmith tells my my abv is 4.2 as opposed to the expected 5.5.

BS doesn't have me input the temp, could the abv be higher than the 4.2 the program is telling me. if it makes a difference, the beer is very sweet

To add to the fun, It was been cold crashing since last Thursday night, the beer had a blow off line going into a growler. The first couple of days, I checked on it, and while some star san had been pulled up an inch or so out of the growler, there was plenty of room before it would get sucked into the beer... or so I thought. I had about 2-3 inches of star san in my growler when I started, but the growler was practically empty. it is very likely that the beer system was open. In my carboy, the top 1/2 or so of beer was much lighter in color. I am assuming that this was the sar san that was sitting on top layered like a black and tan. I syphoned off 90% of that layer.

Should I be worried? The beer tasted fine (with the exception of it being very sweet). Bitterness was perfect, color, etc. was as expected.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Hmmm... I kegged it just now... my gravity after the boil was 1.072 @ 65-70 degrees. I cold crashed, so the temp is down to 36 degrees and my final gravity is 1.004. Beersmith tells my my abv is 4.2 as opposed to the expected 5.5.

BS doesn't have me input the temp, could the abv be higher than the 4.2 the program is telling me. if it makes a difference, the beer is very sweet

To add to the fun, It was been cold crashing since last Thursday night, the beer had a blow off line going into a growler. The first couple of days, I checked on it, and while some star san had been pulled up an inch or so out of the growler, there was plenty of room before it would get sucked into the beer... or so I thought. I had about 2-3 inches of star san in my growler when I started, but the growler was practically empty. it is very likely that the beer system was open. In my carboy, the top 1/2 or so of beer was much lighter in color. I am assuming that this was the sar san that was sitting on top layered like a black and tan. I syphoned off 90% of that layer.

Should I be worried? The beer tasted fine (with the exception of it being very sweet). Bitterness was perfect, color, etc. was as expected.

If you didn't adjust for the low temp, your FG is off. With these numbers, your ABV would about 9.2%. You should take both OG and FG readings around 68-70F. Or whatever your hydrometer is calibrated too.

As for the star san, it certainly won't hurt you, but I can't promise that it won't give a slight off-flavor. In reality though, 2"-3" of star san in a growler is probably not enough to even notice in 5 gal of beer. Don't sweat it and enjoy!

 

[cgm]

If you didn't adjust for the low temp, your FG is off. With these numbers, your ABV would about 9.2%. You should take both OG and FG readings around 68-70F. Or whatever your hydrometer is calibrated too.

As for the star san, it certainly won't hurt you, but I can't promise that it won't give a slight off-flavor. In reality though, 2"-3" of star san in a growler is probably not enough to even notice in 5 gal of beer. Don't sweat it and enjoy!

Wow! This is strong. This makes sense because it fermented like crazy.


The beer was still really sweet last night. Do you think it would be too late to add some coffee to the keg to add some flavor and cut done of the sweetness? I plan on serving this Sunday. If I can add coffee, how much for a 4.5 gallon batch?

Thanks for any help, I am new to this and probably should be posting done of these questions in the new brewers forum.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

First off, i think your readings are incorrect and need adjusting. If you added a pound of lactose to this, there is now way you got down to a 1.004 FG. You meed to take another reading at the correct temp.

Second, this beer is sweet because of the lactose, which does not ferment out (see above). Some of the sweetness will dicipate with age, but not go completely away.

Third, i have never added coffee after fermentation but have brewed with it. When i do, i use a full pound at flame out and let it steep. Since you do not want to add 180F or so coffee to the beer, i would suggest cold brewing or brewing and cooling down to beer temp, then adding to keg. But i am not a fan of opening a keg once a beer is carbed and ready. If you insist on it, i would brew a half gal with 8-10oz of a good, strong, dark roast coffee.

Feel free to ask questions about this beer here. I'll do my best to answer them. Good luck!

 

[cgm]

First off, i think your readings are incorrect and need adjusting. If you added a pound of lactose to this, there is now way you got down to a 1.004 FG. You meed to take another reading at the correct temp.

Second, this beer is sweet because of the lactose, which does not ferment out (see above). Some of the sweetness will dicipate with age, but not go completely away.

Third, i have never added coffee after fermentation but have brewed with it. When i do, i use a full pound at flame out and let it steep. Since you do not want to add 180F or so coffee to the beer, i would suggest cold brewing or brewing and cooling down to beer temp, then adding to keg. But i am not a fan of opening a keg once a beer is carbed and ready. If you insist on it, i would brew a half gal with 8-10oz of a good, strong, dark roast coffee.

Feel free to ask questions about this beer here. I'll do my best to answer them. Good luck!

Thanks so much! I just want to share some awesome beer with friends and family.

Here is a pic of the gravity after cranking and before I kegged it. The temp controller was set to 38 degrees

Imust have misplaced the 0... it was 1.040


It is still really sweet... Granted the carbonation is not set yet, so that will change the flavor. If I were to add coffee, I would be strong and flavorful coffee in my French press and cool it down to the same temp as the beer. Maybe it will brew stove coffee and added or out a pint and see how it tastes tomorrow. I had you on opening up the beer to contamination this late in the game, but as the beer sits, it just isn't good enough yet. I asked the guy at the homebrew shop for a lb of lactose, but my buddy was borrowing my scale so I just dumped it in. I hope it wasn't actually a two lb bag.

Coffee might do two things... Well three. Add flavor... But could be good or bad at this point, add bitterness to possibly offset solve of the sweetness. Lots of people like lots of sugar in their coffee. And finally if I add 1/2 gallon of cold coffee, it will lower the abv.

Did it look like I read the gravity right?

Edit: I just got home from work... still way too sweet, but I added coffee and it definitely tasted better with it! There was a point of diminishing returns, so we will see if I can fine tune it. The carbonation is thankfully still low, so I am guessing that I can add coffee and it won't just settle to the bottom of the keg because of its density compared to the carbonated beer.

I really don't know what I did wrong, the receipt from the brew store said 1 lb of lactose and if the abv is north of 9%, then I would say that quite a bit of the fermentable sugars were eaten up by the yeast. Besides being way too sweet, this beer is awesome.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Im not sure i follow you 100%. What temp is that beer? Based on what you're saying, that sample is about 38f and waaaaaaaay to cold to take a legitimate sample. Your FG should be around 1.018-1.025 for the most part.

It is a sweet beer as the lactose doesnt ferment out. The coffee will not affect the FG or ABV at all. Without a legitimate temp adjusted sample, i cant tell you what your abv is. I suspect it is around 4.8-5.2% abv.

I highly suggest reading some books on the subjects and learning a little more before deciding if this is a good or bad beer. As a new brewer, i think you might be missing several common factors. I hope you like it, but am unsure that your ending processes have been correct to produce a good finished product.

 

[phyllobeddo]

Well, I brewed this again and it ended up tasting like $#|t. It smells metallic and tastes the same. The de bittered black malt was over a year old and maybe I should have tasted it before using it. I also used RO water instead of spring water. I added one tsp of CaCl to the strike water before mash. I don't think it's infected, but I guess that's possible. It's not totally undrinkable, but it's not good like is has been in the past when I brewed it. It's been in the keg for two weeks so there's the possibility that it will get better, but I just don't know at this point. Something is off on this batch. I know it's a great recipe because I've brewed it before!!!!

2.5 gallon batch

4 lb Maris Otter
8 oz de bittered black malt
6 oz flaked barley
6 oz roasted barley
4 oz flaked oats
4 oz cara pils
4 oz crystal 120L
7 oz Lactose (Boil with pint of water before bottling or kegging)
—Hops
11 g (.375 oz) Brewer's Gold (60 min) 5.9AA
7 g (.25 oz) Fuggles (30 min) 5.2AA
— Water Chemistry
CaCl - 1 tsp to 4 gallons RO/Distilled
—Yeast
WLP005 British Ale Yeast (1L starter)
OG 1070
FG 1029

 

[phyllobeddo]

Well, I brewed this again and it ended up tasting like $#|t. It smells metallic and tastes the same. The de bittered black malt was over a year old and maybe I should have tasted it before using it. I also used RO water instead of spring water. I added one tsp of CaCl to the strike water before mash. I don't think it's infected, but I guess that's possible. It's not totally undrinkable, but it's not good like is has been in the past when I brewed it. It's been in the keg for two weeks so there's the possibility that it will get better, but I just don't know at this point. Something is off on this batch. I know it's a great recipe because I've brewed it before!!!!

2.5 gallon batch

4 lb Maris Otter
8 oz de bittered black malt
6 oz flaked barley
6 oz roasted barley
4 oz flaked oats
4 oz cara pils
4 oz crystal 120L
7 oz Lactose (Boil with pint of water before bottling or kegging)
—Hops
11 g (.375 oz) Brewer's Gold (60 min) 5.9AA
7 g (.25 oz) Fuggles (30 min) 5.2AA
— Water Chemistry
CaCl - 1 tsp to 4 gallons RO/Distilled
—Yeast
WLP005 British Ale Yeast (1L starter)
OG 1070
FG 1029

I tasted a sample of a milk stout that's still in the primary and I also used 8 ounces of the same black patent and it tastes just fine. Black patent doesn't seem to be the problem on this one now.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Thats interesting. And sucks too! The only thing i see that you did different is boiling the lactose first. But i dont see that causing metallic flavors. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1462728561.845464.jpg

Keep us posted on the results as it ages.

 

[phyllobeddo]

Thats interesting. And sucks too! The only thing i see that you did different is boiling the lactose first. But i dont see that causing metallic flavors. View attachment 353560

Keep us posted on the results as it ages.

Aw crap! I DID boil the lactose, with about 10 minutes left. I had that in my notes to try for the first time but nixed it and boiled the lactose like normal. I decided it would be too much trouble later on and I've always boiled it. Doh! My bad.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

I just add the lactose directly to the boil with about 15 min left. I still cant imagine boiling it in water first then adding it, would give metallic flavors though.

 

[Jwin]

http://www.bjcp.org/cep/Metallic_Flavors.pdf