Adding lactose to an IPA

3 Floyds Apocalypse Cow.

That was an amazing beer. Try it.

 

I have never brewed before so I'm the wrong guy to answer those questions. I think the lactose, in my instance, added a touch of sweetness and definitely improved the feel. I liked the heft it provided for sure.

I'm guessing if lactose doesn't work out, oats would probably be your best alternative.

 

Lactose will give you both body and sweetness for sure. I've used 0.5# before with a Citra IPA and I thought the combination of lactose and Citra was a tad too sweet. The body, however, was perfect. A full pound in a 5 gallon batch might be pushing it, especially if you are adding actual oranges. I'd certainly experiment with it but I'd caution against a full pound out of the gates. You can always use Maltodextrin to get more body without the sweetness.

My latest IPA is crash carbing right now. I did 0.25# lactose in that to give it a slight gravity boost and sweetness. I'll be curious to see how that one tastes once it's had some time in the keg. It's still pretty green right now.

 

For a barely detectable body and sweetness, use 1/4 lb in 5 gallons. For more noticeable, use 1/2 lb in 5 gallons. If you use more than that, it could turn into a thick syrupy goo.

 

Lactose is unfermentable. So you could always add more at bottling if you needed. So you could start with 1/4 lb in boil, try it at bottling (or kegging), and add more.

 

It definitely increases gravity, in a very predictable and measurable way. BTW, @Supergenious didn't say that lactose doesn't boost gravity. He said it's unfermentable (which is why it boosts original gravity and final gravity by the same amount).

 

Yeah, it definitely boosts gravity, but I see you figured that out.
I think you can add whenever you want. But most add it between 10 minutes - flame out.
Actually, the best time to add it is never... I'm not a fan of lactose in beer. But to each their own. Cheers!

 

If you do add lactose, I would avoid using any crystal malts, or it will finish too high and sweet.

 

This. I use lactose in my standard pale ale with just a touch of carapils. For me, it adds body to a low ABV (~5%) ale and the residual sweetness lets me balance a heavier hop schedule. FWIW, I use 1 lb lactose in 5.5 gallon batch. YMMV.

 

I brewed a milkshake IPA which is almost done... I did .5 lb lactose with flaked oats and white wheat, base of golden promise. Heavily whirlpool and dryhop with citra and mosaic. This is first time trying this recipe, so .5lb seemed like the right starting amount. Added 10mins left in boil.
Report back when you decide/brew/taste !

 

I've been working on a Milkshake IPA recipe and emailed it to Henok from Omnipollo. After some feedback from him, here's what I've got:

78% 2 Row
10% Flaked oats
7% Lactose
5% Wheat
green apple puree

0.5 oz Columbus at 60 min for 20 IBU
2 oz each Citra/Mosaic at whirlpool, primary dry hop, regular dry hop (he specifically said to drop the 0 min addition and go heavy on WP/DH)

5 bl mango puree
1 vanilla bean

 

Can you post any details about green apple purée ? Either what you do or what omnipollo recommended?

I put cored 5 Granny Smith puréed apples in my boil for 10 mins. I puréed them to look like rabbit food.

 

I really don't how they use the apple puree. I was going to dice them up and toss them in the mash and see what happens.