IPAs with Lactic Sugars

I’ve had a few but not really a fan of them tbh. Too sweet/full and not refreshing... hard to get through a pint. Much rather a nicely executed hazy pale ale or ipa. Cheers!

 

Burial is making a lot of their recent hazy DIPAs with lactose and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them. They don’t come across as overly sweet. The lactose seems to add a soft, creaminess that I’m loving.

*These are not milkshake IPAs and contain no fruit.

 

If you really want to try some IPAs with lactose, I suggest heading to Other Half Brewing. They are probably the closest House of Tose near you and probably do the style better than most. Personally, I prefer oats over lactose to create a silkier feel to an IPA, but both are unnecessary.

 

My response was more of a joke since generally Milkshake IPA's are hated more than NEIPA's and desert stouts combined.

That being said, I have tried a few and haven't loved them. They've been around for a while now but I wouldn't say they are the rage. More like most breweries are trying their hand at them just like the Brut IPA's were for a while. Tired Hands was probably one of the first to go there. I think there's room for all beer styles but I think the Milkshake IPA is more of a manufactured hype than true hype.

 

I hope you’re right. Unfortunately, I don’t think the same applies to pastry stouts and sours filled with unfermented fruit. The hype seems very real there.

 

IPAs with lactose aren't anything new. What's happening with lactose in the past compared to now is kind of like the difference between seasoning a steak and using bbq sauce. One subtly brings out the flavor of what is already there the other basically overpowers the flavor of what is already there. 3 Floyds Apocalypse Cow is a DIPA that has added lactose. It's been around for over 10 years. This is what I would refer to as a style of IPA with lactose. Like seasoning a steak, they add a little bit to round out the flavor and are supposed to be in the background. What we have been seeing the past few years are like the BBQ sauce of beers- NEIPAs and Milkshake IPAs that put in truckloads of lactose and that becomes one of the focal flavor points and for added body.
Like any beer the best of the style will have you coming back for more and the worst will have you thinking you hate the style...I have yet to have a milkshake IPA I like.

 

I've only had a couple (always game to try something new), and I liked it. Not a style I'm down for all the time and definitely not my preferred style of IPA, but I liked the creaminess and full bodied feel that it had. My only issue is they tend to be hella expensive, but what isn't these days?

Cheers

 

The only lactose NEIPA that I can wholeheartedly recommend would be from Other Half. A ton of their beers use it, but it's almost always very subtle, and just thickens up the mouthfeel a bit, without translating to any kind of noticeable additional sweetness. In their case, I don't really think that lactose addition makes a massive difference.

A lot of people here have been talking about "milkshake IPA," but to me a beer needs to have vanilla in addition to the lactose to qualify, and it's the vanilla that makes many of that style sickeningly sweet, at least to me.

 

Keep in mind that while many folks here very vocal about how much they dislike this lactose IPA trend, these beers are still selling like crazy. Take our opinions with a grain of salt, because they don't always reflect the larger population of craft beer consumers. We are a niche within a niche.

You can't really do that on this website. Someone mentioned above that Untappd let you search by "milkshake" IPAs. Probably the easiest thing for you do to is go to your local beer store and scan the IPA shelf for labels that say "lactose" or "milkshake" on them. Grab a few, and try them to an idea what the style is going for. If you like them, then dive into the game of finding the "top-rated" ones.

 

Are they really selling like crazy? I certainly don't see many at my local craft beer stores, a few but not a ton. Most of the breweries around here do them once in a while but not consistently and a few have never done any. I was in down town New York a few weeks back and went to several beer bars, don't recall seeing many beers with lactose. It seems like its still kind of a novelty. When they are released they might sell quickly but I still don't feel like the demand is all that high. I feel like you kind of have to go out of your way to really get one unlike NEIPA's that are everywhere.

 

This article is a little dated but I think does a pretty good job of explaining what milkshake IPAs are and are not. https://vinepair.com/articles/milkshake-ipa-guide/ (Funny though that the first paragraph refers to HopHands as a milkshake IPA, which is not the case).

For what it's worth I've had lots of Tired Hands milkshakes and liked most of them - I think it's hard to find a brewery that does a better job with the style. It's not a style that you'd want to sit and drink several in a row (at least I wouldn't), but they are popular for a reason - they taste great. (I also totally agree with alucard that they are pricey.)

 

As @Ranbot said, you can't do that on BA.

However, you can do that here.

 

There are still lines down the streets at places like Tired Hands and Other Half for their milkshake releases, social media is blowing up with IPAs named after desserts and candy, and my local distributors sell lots of these, so yeah I'd say these beers are selling very well... not to folks like you or I, of course, but we are not average consumers.

 

the latest rage? Where the hell’s this bartender been for the past 3 years?

 

totally agree -- I've had a few other half lactose IPAs and was pleasantly surprised at how good they were -- subtle application of the lactose is key I think -- very small but noticeable flavor/mouthfeel impact.

 

I think you're right, but I don't think the subset of folks waiting in lines at a handful of breweries known for this style are average consumers either.

 

This is one style where I have not comprehended the demand. Perhaps just out of touch--not the first time--but even the tenor on this site is generally a negative tone. I have a hard time finding colleagues that really enjoy them--is it a trade/status thing? I am truly asking because struggling to find folks that like them.

I do not.

 

The article seems to harp on lactose being the primary feature of milkshakes, but I feel like people are conflating New England IPA that add some lactose with "true milkshakes," using vanilla, and that vanilla is what almost always what turns me off.

Ultimately, the term milkshake IPA is made-up so it's splitting hairs, but the original Tired Hands/Omnipollo milkshakes that started the whole thing all have lactose+vanilla, and to me it's the vanilla that makes milkshake IPA totally different from NEIPA, and even NEIPA using lactose. I've seen a few examples of breweries billing an NEIPA with lactose as a milkshake, but if they're anything like stuff from Other Half, Burlington, Root+Branch, etc., it probably just tastes like an NEIPA, maybe a little thicker/smoother.

 

Burial is one of the better brewers in the country imo, there’s a lot to be said for execution beyond the components. Brewers can use similar components and come up with completely different tasting beers. I generally hate Session IPAs, but Burials effort is the best on the market imo, to be fair their abv is a bit higher than most Session beers. Resident Culture NEIPAS imo are terrific, but there’s also a ton of the same that are terrible. Skill and execution by the Brewing team can count as much of more than ingredients. Burial is in that class, I’d put some of there beers up against any in the country, but funny enough Surf Wax doesn’t move me very much.