Adding Lactose Before Bottling

Northern Brewer General
1

I made a 4 Gallon batch, and filled my fermenter to the 4 gallon mark without thinking about boiling and adding the lactose before bottling. Can I add about 4 cups of water to the batch with lactose without affecting the wort too much ?

2

BOIL (or close to it)… then cool 80*F …then add to the fermenter…
Sneezles61

3

I wouldn’t add it to the fermenter at bottling. I would add to your bottling bucket or keg. I think it’s easier to predict and mix without rousing the trub.

4

I agree with @squeegeethree and with @sneezles61. But you do want to boil the WATER to try to get as much dissolved O2 out as possible.

5

I forgot to add lactose during boil once had to add later after fermentation is complete. I withdrew some beer, heated it to a boil to sanitize, then slowly added the lactose with no heat on, then boiled it to sanitize. This avoids boil over when fine powder hits boiling water. I used the beer because I did not want to water down the beer. For 4 gallons I assume you will want about 363 grams of lactose(4/5*454). At 65 F the solubility of lactose is 18.3 grams lactose/100 ml water, less in beer. You will need over 2 quarts of beer for it to dissolve and stay dissolved as it cools. I agree with others add it to bottling bucket. Hope this helps.

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6

Thanks everyone. I ended up dissolving it and bringing it to a boil for a couple minutes (didn’t intend to do that). But after your comments, I guess that’s ok. Then I added it to my bottling bucket.

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