[jivetyrant]

So my wife bought me an array of misc brewing ingredients for Christmas this year.  She got a variety of hops, yeasts and grains, several of which I've never used.  Included were 2 smack packs of Wyeast 1945 NeoBritainnia and a 1lb bag of lactose.  I decided that a sweet stout would be a nice usage of the two, but I've never tried making one before!  I've been hunting around for solid recipes to use as a base, but one thing I've seen is a wild variation in the amount of lactose used.  Many recipes use the full 1lb, some use only a few oz's.  It seems to me that a large amount (ie, a lb) would be needed to impart all the richness normally present in a milk stout, but I've only ever had 1 commercial example. (Left Hand Milk Stout)  I'm also wondering if I'd be better off simply using some S-04 or US-05 or Nottingham and saving the Neobrit for something different.

If anyone has experience with this style I'd love some input.  I checked the recipe wiki but there are none posted.  Does anyone have a winning recipe they'd like to share, or simply some information about brewing the style?

Thanks!

[garc_mall]

I do not have a whole lot of experience with milk stouts, I have had a few more commercial examples, but I thought I would point out that in last year's Jan/Feb issue, there is a chai-spiced milk stout recipe from Yak and Yeti in Arvada, CO. That will be my next beer, because the wife has demanded it. It calls for 1lb of Lactose and WY1728 Scottish Ale.

[blatz]

I like this quite a bit:

Style: Sweet Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.0 gal
Boil Size: 7.68 gal
Estimated OG: 1.063 SG
Estimated Color: 38.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 58.2 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 7.3 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 7.3 %
1.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 9.1 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3.7 %
0.50 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 3.6 %
0.50 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 3.6 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [6.00%] (60 min) Hops 18.6 IBU
1.00 oz Willamette [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 7.7 IBU
1.00 lb Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 7.3 %
1 Pkgs American Ale (WL001, WY1056 or WL005, WY1272) Yeast-Ale

Single infusion mash at 155

I'd use Magnum instead of NB, but I think I was out of Magnum when I formulated this.

Yes, I realize the ingredients are a bit different than the website lists, and it has some slight differences in the final outcome vs. the real deal, but its pretty darn close, IMO.

This is an excellent candidate for late mash addition of the roasted grains.

[tschmidlin]

I always used a pound of lactose in my milk stout, but I think you could go with 8 oz and be fine.  It depends on your recipe and mash profile.

[jivetyrant]

Here's what I ended up with, thanks for the input folks.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 5.00 gal
Post Boil Volume: 4.25 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.75 gal   
Bottling Volume: 5.53 gal
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 46.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 55.2 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
3 lbs                 Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)           Grain         1        26.0 %       
1 lbs 4.0 oz          Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)               Grain         2        10.8 %       
1 lbs                 Crystal, Medium (Simpsons) (55.0 SRM)    Grain         3        8.7 %         
1 lbs                 Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)                   Grain         4        8.7 %         
8.0 oz                Chocolate Malt (Simpsons) (430.0 SRM)    Grain         5        4.3 %         
8.0 oz                De-Bittered Black Malt (Dingemans) (550. Grain         6        4.3 %         
3 lbs 4.8 oz          Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)            Extract       7        28.6 %       
1.00 oz               Newport [9.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min         Hop           8        27.7 IBUs     
0.50 tsp              Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)              Fining        9        -             
0.50 tsp              Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins)          Other         10       -             
2.0 pkg               Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) [23.66 m Yeast         11       -             
1 lbs                 Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM)           Sugar         12       8.7 %         


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 8.8 oz
----------------------------
Name              Description                 Step Temperat Step Time     
Mash In           Add 9.06 qt of water at 168 156.0 F       45 min       

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.10gal, 2.50gal) of 168.0 F water