My stout is waaaaay too sweet.

[Brew_Nerd]

So I added 1lb of lactose to my recently brewed stout before bottling. After filling the last bottle I tasted the dregs at the bottom of the bottling bucket and found that my beer is far too sweet after the lactose addition. I realize now that I probably should have used more hops to balance the lactose. My question is.. Will this mellow out at all with age? Or is my beer destined to be used as an icecream topping?

 

[Beernik]

I always recommend to people to use 1/2lb unless they are sure they want more.

What was your FG before the lactose?

EDIT: I should ask - what's the OG, FG, and IBU?

 

[msa8967]

Is there any reason you added the lactose after fermentation instead of before? 1 lb seems like a lot to use post fermentation. I usually use this much during the last 10 min of the boil for my milk stout.

 

[Brew_Nerd]

Honestly, the lactose was an afterthought, hence the late addition. The OG was 1.062 with a FG of 1.020. I can't tell you the IBUs. This is my first experimentation with lactose so I'm largely ignorant where it is concerned. And indeed, if I could turn back time I would have definitely halved the amount.

 

[msa8967]

Have you tried blending a bottle of your stout with another stout to help reduce the sweetness?

 

[Brew_Nerd]

Considering I only bottled yesterday, I haven't attempted this yet. However, if the sweetness doesn't subside considerably, I'm afraid I will be forced to blend in order to render this concoction acceptable.

 

[Beernik]

My last sweet stout went from 1.062 to 1.024 and those both include the 1/2lb of lactose. This one ended up sweeter than my usual brewing of it. I also try to balance this beer with at least 30 IBUs.

Some of the apparent sweetness will be muted by the carbonation. But it will stay sweet.