Lactose

[Payson]

I recently read that lactose could be used as a non-fermentable sweetener. I'm curious regarding when to add it and how much to add. My curiosity stems from wanting to add a touch of sugary sweetness to a raspberry lambic. Would this be unheard of, inadvisable?
Thanks for any info...
Chris

[dartedplus]

I've seen it mostly called for in stouts, not other styles. I'm not sure how it would affect something like a lambic

[BillyBock]

Since it's non-fermentable you can add it anytime really--in the boil, in the secondary, at bottling. I've added it before to an extract cream ale that fermented a lot drier than I wanted at bottling. I would wait for your beer to finish fermenting and check the gravity and taste. Then add to adjust.

Lactose's SG is 43 pts/lb/gal. So if you add one pound in one gallon of water, your gravity will be 1.043. So in 5 gallons of beer, it will increase your gravity by (43/5) or 8 to 9 gravity units. For instance, if your 5 gals of beer finished at an SG of 1.010 and you add 1 lb. lactose to it, then your new SG will be 1.018 or 1.019. If I remember correctly, I added 1/2 lb to increase the gravity 4 pts, from 1.004 to 1.008.

Hope this helps.
v/r

Bill

[dartedplus]

that was very insightful, thanks

[fitz]

I'd think that tghis would be good for any Honey ale, or fruit beer that didn't have enough, fruit or honey taste after fermentation. In wine making, you almost always ferment out the wine until dry, then you "condition" to taste. Killians made a nice "wild honey" that my wife really enjoyed, but now is nowhere to be found around these parts. I do not know if they stopped production, but it was the best commercial honey ale I ever tried. I have to assume they conditioned it also, because it had a great deal of residual sweetness, with out the winey taste of using too much adjuncts.

[Payson]

Thanks. As usual, this site and its many users have proven to be invaluable! It makes me realize how little I really know.
Chris