How much milk sugar to use?

I think 1/2 lb would be subtle but might be nice for what you are shooting for. Lactose doesn't really add any sweetness. It adds more of a creaminess/fuller body that can yield a perception of sweetness tho. I used 1 pound in a coffee milk stout and it was a little too much for me.

I would start at a 1/2 lb and see how that goes.


Or I have heard of guys dosing the keg with lactose in increments until they reach a desired level of Lactoseness. I imagine those people would dissolve the lactose with water and add cooled dissolved solution to the keg.

 

Well... I have a sweet stout right now that used about 1.4 lbs lactose in a 5 gallon batch. It added substantial sweetness. If you haven't already, try a teaspoon of dry lactose and let it dissolve in your mouth. It's a bit sweet. Not table sugar sweet, but sweet.

 

Lactose is sweet. Just less sweet than other sugars.

For 5 gallons, a half pound of lactose rounds things out just a little bit and is barely detectable. 3/4 pound is a good amount. A whole pound gives a very full palate, and any more than that is just downright gooey. Others have disagreed with me in the past. That's fine, they have a right to be wrong.

 

Vike was it you that added lactose as needed(wanted) to keg?? If so what was your process for that?

 

Not me. But if I were going to, I'd boil it in the smallest volume of water that would dissolve it.

 

I think I would compare adding lactose to beer as to adding half and half to coffee.... it doesn't make the coffee necessarily "sweet"... but it adds a creamyness or roundness?? that when added in conjunction with sugar does make it taste sweeter.

I don't know WTF i just said.... but I feel as if lactose just adds a perception of sweetness......IMHO of course.

 

As a point of reference, I brewed a partial-mash coffee-chocolate milk porter a couple of years ago that was a tad too sweet. The amount I added works out to be about 17g/L (~0.14 lbs/gal). Whether or not the sweetness was due to the lactose (in combination with the base & crystal malts), I'm not sure, but my gut feeling is that I added just a little bit too much of both Lactose & Crystal.

Here are the stats:
OG 1.067
FG 1.018
Est IBU: 30

33% Maris Otter
25% LME Amber (Briess)
17% Munich I
8% Crystal, Medium
7% Chocolate Malt
4% Milk Sugar (Lactose)
3% Oats, Flaked
2% Raw Sugar (Sucrose)

Cocoa Powder
Coffee (Espresso shots)
Vanilla Bean

 

I used 1lb in a 5 gallon batch. With cocoa nibs towards the end of primary. Good stuff.

 

Lactose is about 6.25x less sweet than sucrose, so adding a lb would be like adding around 2.5oz of table sugar

To put it another way, it's like adding one cube of sugar to 35oz, so not very sweet

 

That is what I did and it turned out great. Specifically, 1lb lactose in the last 10 min of boil. 6oz roasted Cacao Nibs (Sharffen berger) in a vodka tincture for about a week, then added to fermenter just prior to bottling.

 

IMHO - I would skip the lactose (not a fan). Instead mash hot, use a lower attenuative yeast, and add 1-2 lbs of flaked oats. That should give you plenty of sweetness and smooth mouthfeel. To each their own though. Good luck!

 

It was an OG of 1.050 or so. Not sure of abv but could check if you think it more informative. 4 oz nibs for I think 2 weeks. I did not seem to have head retention issues reported by others who use nibs.

 

1/2# of lactose is a good starting amount. I prefer zero. Others prefer more than a pound.

4oz of nibs is the minimum. 8oz isn't too much. It depends how chocolately you want it to be. I like to use nibs plus some bakers chocolate. Head retention isn't something I care about.

 

it does that because the lactose isnt fermentable with brewer's yeast. this results in an increase in the FG and a thicker mouthfeel.