Replacing lactose with a different sugar.

[sfrisby]

I think I came out with a question that hasn’t already been asked on this forum! I didn’t think it was possible.

As expensive as lactose is, if I added Camden and potassium sorbate after fermentation to inhibit further yeast production, what’s the downside to adding brown sugar instead of lactose?

 

[dmtaylor]

If you keg it, you can do this safely.

If bottling... all bets are off. Campden and sorbate don't kill yeast; they just piss it off and prevent it from multiplying. If you've aged the brew for a long time (like 6 months or longer) to settle out 99% of the yeast, you might be okay bottling. If not, then look out for gushers and explosions from the live yeast that remains within.

 

[FromZwolle]

brown sugar is very sweet by comparison, so a little will go a looong way in a finished beer.

sweet beer is pretty gross (IMO).

 

[sfrisby]

brown sugar is very sweet by comparison, so a little will go a looong way in a finished beer.

sweet beer is pretty gross (IMO).

That’s a good point to consider. Thank you.

 

[JAReeves]

Does anyone have an alternative non-fermentable sugar that can add a little sweetness or body to a beer? I have friends who vomit quite spectacularly when they ingest lactose (sorry for the mess, Absolution Brewing).

 

[TheBluePhantom]

Maltodextrin. I believe it is slightly fermentble, so add it at the beginning and ferment with it. But it is mostly unfermentable and gives a body addition. No sweetness though.

Some people have luck with artificail sweeteners. Personally I don't like them and will not use them, but they allow for carbonation in the bottle with residual sweetness. Others will bottle pasteurize, too risky for me.

The Pot meta / Pot sorbate process is normal for wine. I do many wines and ciders with this. Yes it does require significant time, but most of that is clearing. Most of my wines have been aged until crystal clear, treated, wait two weeks, add sugar, wait two weeks and check for signs of renewed fermentation. I then bottle the wines or keg the ciders. With this method you have to keg if you want carbonation. Beer is much harder to clear fully.

Anther way is to sterile filter, but I read that the flavor is affected. And filtration that fine is harder to get.

 

[JAReeves]

Maltodextrin. I believe it is slightly fermentble, so add it at the beginning and ferment with it. But it is mostly unfermentable and gives a body addition. No sweetness though.

Some people have luck with artificail sweeteners. Personally I don't like them and will not use them, but they allow for carbonation in the bottle with residual sweetness. Others will bottle pasteurize, too risky for me.

The Pot meta / Pot sorbate process is normal for wine. I do many wines and ciders with this. Yes it does require significant time, but most of that is clearing. Most of my wines have been aged until crystal clear, treated, wait two weeks, add sugar, wait two weeks and check for signs of renewed fermentation. I then bottle the wines or keg the ciders. With this method you have to keg if you want carbonation. Beer is much harder to clear fully.

Anther way is to sterile filter, but I read that the flavor is affected. And filtration that fine is harder to get.

Thank you!

 

[bracconiere]

brown sugar instead of lactose?

brown sugar is just sugar coated with molassess....and molassess is only like 60% fermentable? so i'd just use it? i think?

 

[sfrisby]

brown sugar is very sweet by comparison, so a little will go a looong way in a finished beer.

sweet beer is pretty gross (IMO).

So I found this chart.

The standard reference, often called the “gold standard,” for sweetness is sucrose. While corn sweeteners do taste sweet, the intensity of sweetness is less when compared to sucrose.
...
Sweetness.

Type of Sweetener	Relative Sweetness to Sucrosea
Lactose	40
Dextrose	70–80
Fructose	150–170
Sucrose	100

So the way I’m reading this, table sugar is 2.5x sweeter than lactose. So let’s say you add 16oz of lactose to a batch, I may try adding 6.4oz table sugar and see what happens.

 

[Velnerj]

What kind of beer are you planning to make? You can add body with higher mash temps and dextrin malt. Sweetness can be added at serving time, no need to worry about further fermentation. Just make a simple syrup, add a bit to your glass and pour over.
However, often times lactose is added to give the beer a creamy/milky character so other sugars may not reach this intended effect. Maybe a non dairy creamer (powder form)? OK that's probably going too far...

 

[FromZwolle]

So I found this chart.

The standard reference, often called the “gold standard,” for sweetness is sucrose. While corn sweeteners do taste sweet, the intensity of sweetness is less when compared to sucrose.
...
Sweetness.

Type of Sweetener	Relative Sweetness to Sucrosea
Lactose	40
Dextrose	70–80
Fructose	150–170
Sucrose	100

So the way I’m reading this, table sugar is 2.5x sweeter than lactose. So let’s say you add 16oz of lactose to a batch, I may try adding 6.4oz table sugar and see what happens.

i always do a single pint trial first just to see if i'm way off base. it doesn't even need to be the beer in question, just add progressive additions to any pint of beer, to see how much it takes to taste the difference. then scale up to total volume.

 

[sfrisby]

What kind of beer are you planning to make? You can add body with higher mash temps and dextrin malt. Sweetness can be added at serving time, no need to worry about further fermentation. Just make a simple syrup, add a bit to your glass and pour over.
However, often times lactose is added to give the beer a creamy/milky character so other sugars may not reach this intended effect. Maybe a non dairy creamer (powder form)? OK that's probably going too far...

Fruited berliner weiss. So non dairy creamer probably fits right in…

 

[FromZwolle]

Fruited berliner weiss. So non dairy creamer probably fits right in…

i imagine it would precipitate out too quickly. a little oat milk in the glass after you pour one might be interesting, though. or disgusting, who knows until you try.