Hi there,
I had a question about lactose usage for adding body to beers. Is there any equivalent off the shelf product that is either cheaper our more readily available off the supermarket shelf for example.
Shanna
Hi Tube,
Thanks for that. Would you use the same amount as if using lactose?
Declan
Hang on a minute!
Anyone else like to chip in on this!
Cornflour is a refined, very pure form of starch. It is used for thickenning posh white sauces. If you are making cheese sauce you just use a flour roux. The chinese use arrowroot as a starch based thickner that gives a clear thick sauce.
Starch gives rise to some very starchy/cereally/"not wanted here" flavours.
Lactose is a non-fermentable, soluble sugar. It is primarily a sweerning adjunct used in "Milk Stout"
Another common one is Malto-Dextrin also a non-fermenting sugar.
As they are sugars they disolve in water, up the gravity of the beer and so up the mouth feel of the beer as its now a bit higher gravity.
Typically about 10 points of gravity can be added by these NFS's
Starch is relatively insoluble in cold water!
Before bunging in a load of cornflour wait and see what else is mentioned in this thread!
Hi Will,
Your a rock off sense as usual. Might try.some experiments with water and corn flour to see how it develops over time with some yeast. Don't really want to have a stodgy tasting beer. I guess I am.looking for an off the shelf source of nfs so I don't have to order from home brew suppliers.
Shanna
I think very little will come of Water + Cornflour + Yeast on its own.
Corn flour is what the Americans call 'Corn starch'
Have a look here at how to convert...
http://www.ehow.com/how_7640972_convert-starch-sugar.html
QuoteCorn flour is what the Americans call 'Corn starch'
Not so sure about it. Corn flour is yellow and different in consistency then white corn starch. Using both of them when cooking.
Fecker.
Although it does look like conversion is possible.
QuoteFecker.
Although it does look like conversion is possible.
Feckity Fecker - someone could have trashed 5 gallons :-[
Of course you can convert starch to sugar - its what we do in the mash tun with the speciality malts that have no enzymes!!
QuoteQuoteFecker.
Although it does look like conversion is possible.
Feckity Fecker - someone could have trashed 5 gallons :-[
Of course you can convert starch to sugar - its what we do in the mash tun with the speciality malts that have no enzymes!!
Absolutely.
The link I posted is a mini-mash.
Hi Tube,
thanks for the "helpful" tip. Thankfully others have their bullshit detector more finely attuned than me. The closest thing I can see as a replacement is maltodextrin but this is not readily available off a supermarket shelf.
The search continues.
Shanna
http://byo.com/belgian-strong-ale/item/89-add-body-to-your-beer
Original question came in.response to reading the article above where it was suggested lactose could.be added.to beer to increase its body. I was reading Irish goats recipe for ginger beer and I thought it might benefit from the addition of lactose to increase the body of the beer.
Shanna
QuoteI was messing when I said cornflour! It's used for thickening sauces, so it sort of adds body. ;)
Lactose is a non fermentable sugar that will only add sweetness.
Are you doing extract? If mashing add some oats or mash at the high end of the scale.
Mashing high is the best way to reduce alcohol/increase body.
Lactose will add 10 points of gravity and a nice sweetness to a milk stout.
There is something called body brew that the homebrew suppliers sell. Does anyone know what's in this and can we source it in a supermarket?
Hi Rukkus,
Doing an extract recipe so there is no mash I am afraid.
Declan
QuoteAre you doing extract? If mashing add some oats or mash at the high end of the scale.
Hi Padraic,
Body brew is primarily Maltodextrin. As far as I am aware its not available off the super marker shelf. Its heavily used in energy drinks such as luxozade sport, high five etc. I did a lot of marathon running previously and I searched high and low for a straight supply of this without the flavouring (the flavoured energy drinks made me sick).
http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/body-brew-500grm-maltodextrin-p-190.html
Declan
QuoteMashing high is the best way to reduce alcohol/increase body.
Lactose will add 10 points of gravity and a nice sweetness to a milk stout.
There is something called body brew that the homebrew suppliers sell. Does anyone know what's in this and can we source it in a supermarket?
QuoteLactose will add 10 points of gravity and a nice sweetness to a milk stout
at what ratio ? - I have @ 5 Gallons of Dry Cider 1.000
how much lactose do I need to add to bring it into the medium/dry
slightly sweeter category ? lets say I want to bring it up to 1.010
QuoteQuoteLactose will add 10 points of gravity and a nice sweetness to a milk stout
at what ratio ? - I have @ 5 Gallons of Dry Cider 1.000
how much lactose do I need to add to bring it into the medium/dry
slightly sweeter category ? lets say I want to bring it up to 1.010
My only experience is with Milk Stout and you use around 500g for a 5 gallon batch. I think one of the cider makers will have a better idea, I think they normally use sorbital, or some other unfermentable!
yeah - ciderhead mentioned sorbital to me before alright - when I started reading this post I did a little googling on lactose - some dudes do use it for cider - didn't really gete a recommended amount though
better google up on the oul sorbital before I make a decision I guess
Sorbitol is a liquid backsweetner, if you use too much it has a laxative effect :-[ Will do absolutely nothing for head retention though its just for back sweetening :'(
Sorbitol if taken neat will give you the shits, 10ml in 500ml which is what I used will not.
You cannot backsweeten with lactose, and its used early in the process not late.
I always steer clear of lactose as some people are lactose intolerant and they will not thank you for it.
DO NOT TREAT YOUR ENTIRE BATCH OF CIDER, if you ruin it, its 12 months fermenting down the drain
For those that didn't hear me on other posts, play around with small batches of adjuncts.
Sir William of Apple(not orange) will be publishing his winning recipie later this week, listen closely young Jedis as to what he says
Why can you not backsweeten with lactose? You add it in primary if you want a sweeter wort?
my intention was at bottling time to - add
1. the appropriate amount of fermentable sugar(prob table sugar) for carbonation ( bulk prime )
2. Add the Lactose at the same time for sweetness
(bulk sweeten)
I'm not interested in head retention as its cider I'm dealing with
QuoteWhy can you not backsweeten with lactose? You add it in primary if you want a sweeter wort?
it improves mouthfeel but the vols you put it in are significant as it has low sweetness, consider a mix of artificial and lactose.
As I said before play around with small vols to get where yoy want
yeah - I'm in no panic to do anything yet - just fishing for ideas I guess - what I might do is bottle @ 5 litres or something on the lactose and see how it goes
Does anyone know if lactose might be fermentable to wild yeast that might have lived on the apples?
Just wondering!
Does anyone know how long does lactose keep because i have 2kg of it here and looks like i will not be using it any day soon?