I am trying my second attempt on a Martin House Day Break Clone in a few minutes, (the first one came out great). The only thing i want to do different this time is to add the lactose to the secondary fermentation along with the honey as the Day Break has a very dry finish. Last time, i made the mistake to add it to the boil. Is there anything i need to do to add the lactose to the secondary? Is it recommended or not? Martin House eludes to the fact that they add the lactose and sugar in the secondary. Thank you and cheers.
I've tried adding lactose to the secondary twice, it does not dissolve well. Both attempts left quite a bit undissolved. I would recommend stirring it into the boil slowly toward the end.
When did you add the lactose in the boil the first time? If you added early boil and were happy with results, you'll want to make adjustment to your hops, as you'll get better hop utilization with the lower gravity lactose free boil. If added end boil, no change required.
Yea, my recipe calls out for the last ten minutes to add the lactose but i wanted to see how i could get a dryer finish. The previous one was nice and sweet but not as dry as i wanted it to be.
Why do you think you'll get a drier beer by adding the Lactose in the secondary? If it successfully dissolves, it will increase the gravity no matter when you add it.
Eh, i was just assuming i guess based on what i read on their website. I'm just going to stick to the last 10 minutes or so.
I'm a little confused what you're after, I think of sweet vs. dry as opposites. Drier to me means less residual sugars, which you can adjust by mashing at a lower temp (I'm making assumptions without details), decrease the amount of lactose which is unfermentable by brewers yeast or replace any unfermentable with fermentable sugars like adding corn sugar rather than grains. Any way will decrease body, make it drier and less sweet.
Lactose is not fermentable, so it makes no difference when you add it! I often add mine on bottling day if the beer is too dry. If you want a dry beer, then you should definitely NOT be using any lactose at all! The only reason to use lactose in a dry beer is if it turns out TOO dry, then you could try adding 0.25 lb per 5 gallons to take the edge off. If you do add any lactose, it does not dissolve worth a shit, so you need to add it to about 2 cups of water then bring to a boil, then cool, then add to your beer. Like I said, it makes no difference if you do this during the boil on brewing day, or whether you wait all the way until bottling/kegging day, or any day in between -- it will not ferment, so whatever gravity you add from it stays in your beer forever.
