Who's brewed with lactose?

I’m thinking about putting a together a recipe using lactose, but I know nothing about it. First, does it come in liquid or powder form, and what is a reasonable range of quantity in a recipe? I know that’s pretty general, but like I say, I know absolutely nothing about the stuff. Appreciate any info.

Lactose is simply a mildly sweet, mostly unfermentable sugar. So the basic effect of adding lactose is to increase both the OG and the FG, resulting in more residual sweetens. It does NOT give “creaminess”, even though that is often misunderstood to happen.

I’ve used about 1 pound in a five gallon batch when making cream stouts. Seems to give about the right effect, though I’m sure you could get away with a pound and a half if you wanted it more sweet.

[quote=“rebuiltcellars”]Lactose is simply a mildly sweet, mostly unfermentable sugar. So the basic effect of adding lactose is to increase both the OG and the FG, resulting in more residual sweetens. It does NOT give “creaminess”, even though that is often misunderstood to happen.

I’ve used about 1 pound in a five gallon batch when making cream stouts. Seems to give about the right effect, though I’m sure you could get away with a pound and a half if you wanted it more sweet.[/quote]
this.
I’ve used many pounds of lactose over the years. it is in powder form. add last 15 minutes of boil. it’s great in sweet stouts and some porters (depending on your “extras”).

Thanks for the info. I knew that it was sugar the yeast won’t eat and that it adds sweetness, but I had no idea that you would use that much. My idea is a sort of ‘breakfast beer’, using 2-row or Maris Otter, oat flakes, wheat, and lactose with bittering hops only for a bittersweet cream of wheat effect. Might suck, but who knows?

what is your grain bill looking like so far? and what about the hops? what kind and how many AAU’s? maybe WLP080 for the yeast? this kinda has me excited for some reason.

I guess probably Magnum for bittering, just because I have a lb of it. Otherwise, haven’t worked out specifics. Just off the top of my head, how about 12 lbs MO, 5 lbs wheat malt, 2 lbs oat flakes, a couple of lbs of the lactose and maybe 4 oz. of the Magnum in a 10 gallon batch? The calculator I’m using has that at 1.052 OG, 1.013 FG, but I’m figuring a high temp mash - this needs to have a lot of body. With 4 oz of Mag that’s almost 70 IBU, but with the lactose, that shouldn’t be as bitter as it ordinarily would, right? Hey, I’m open to suggestions - maybe wheat flakes instead of wheat malt? You probably know better than I do how the lactose will offset the boil hops. That FG seems low (I’m figuring this should be a little chewy), but it doesn’t account for the high temp mash. What do you think?

I’d drop the Magnum down to 2oz (if it’s 14% AA), definitely a protein rest, 1 1/2-2 lbs lactose would be fine, maybe add some 10L crystal malt. I’m still sticking with the WLP080. for what I put into BS: estimated OG is 1.061, FG 1.013. estimated IBU’s 46.7, which would be good for a hoppish breakfast beer. great head retention & body. I would aim for some cascade for a dry hop, or something somewhat citrus for more of breakfast taste. maybe even adding some cream of wheat in a cereal mash.

The protein rest makes sense and I can see the light caramel, to add a little more sweetness and body, and having another source of residual sweetness would make it a little more complex. I’m not sold on the cascade though - I’m not saying it wouldn’t be good, but for this concept it would be a little like pouring your orange juice into your cream of wheat. Speaking of that, you might be on to something there - has anyone made beer with breakfast cereal before? I would think it would be fermentable as is if it’s an instant type cereal like Ralston. Instead of the finishing hops, I’d actually consider adding a touch of cinnamon. You could do it as a standard weight 1.050ish beer, or go a little bigger - depends on your morning plans I guess. I hadn’t thought about the yeast much - I just reflexively fall back on Nottingham for the most part, but the cream ale makes sense. Come to think of it, Notty is probably a little too thoroughly attenuating for this beer. What about wheat malt -v-Wheat flakes? Either would give it body and a wheaty taste. Maybe if I decided to take a shot at the Ralston idea, flakes might make more sense. I don’t have either now, so I have to order it either way. Is the cinnamon idea one of those things that sounds okay but tastes like a**, or would it work?

I’ve usually used lactose in milk stouts, adding a pound to the boil.

Last winter I added it to a historical 1933 stout with over a pound in the boil and another pound boiled to sanitize with my priming sugar. This worked very well.

And this fall a friend added lactose as part of his priming solution for a mead which was the first time I’d seen it used in a lighter colored beverage. This was good too.

Just make sure it gets boiled for at least 15 minutes (my personal standard likely not scientific) before adding to wort or priming a brew.

Cheers!

General advice on lactose… A pound will make the beer very thick and sweet indeed. A half pound is usually good enough. If you’re not sure, go with half to 3/4 pound. A pound is pretty darn sweet. All this advice assumes a 5-gallon batch. Enjoy.

me

any updates for us?

No. This recipe is still on the list, but it’s been pushed back. I have all of the ingredients, just need to get off my lazy A. I’m doing an APA tomorrow, then a mild, then a stout (a milk stout using the other lb of lactose I picked up), then the Breakfast Beer. Appreciate the interest though - I definitely need to get to it. One factor is that I’ve sort of gone crazy buying hops this year and feel obliged to brew a lot of hoppy beers, so I’ve been A/IPAing it up. Funny thing is, I’m honestly getting a little burnt on the uber hoppy beers and most of the beers that have been popping into my mind are just hopped for bitterness and mostly malt dominated. I guess I just need to brew more. I’ll keep you posted.