The Brewer

Sweet Stout Brewing Guide: The Milk Stout

Sweet Stout: The Cream of the Crop

Also known as Milk Stout or Cream Stout, this style breaks the primary rule of fermentation: yeast eats sugar. By adding Lactose (milk sugar), a sugar that standard brewer’s yeast cannot ferment, brewers created a beer with residual sweetness and a full, creamy body. Historically, it was marketed as nutritious food for invalids and nursing mothers. Today, it is the dessert of the beer world.

1. The Key Ingredient: Lactose

  • What is it?: A sugar derived from milk. It is not sweet like table sugar (sucrose); it is about 1/6th as sweet.
  • Function: It adds body (mouthfeel) and a subtle sweetness that balances the harsh bite of roasted grains.
  • Intolerance: Yes, if you are lactose intolerant, you cannot drink this beer.

2. Ingredients

The Malt

  • Base: Pale Malt (Maris Otter).
  • Roast: Chocolate Malt and Roasted Barley.
  • Crystal: Dark Crystal (80L) enhances the sweet profile.
  • Oats: Often added for extra silkiness, blurring the line with Oatmeal Stout.

The Hops

  • Low: 20-25 IBU. You want the sweetness to win.
  • English: Goldings or Fuggles.

The Yeast

  • English Ale: Low attenuation is good. You want to leave some malt sugars behind in addition to the lactose.
  • Strain: WLP002 (Fuller’s) or S-04.

3. Brewing Strategy

  1. Lactose Addition: Add lactose during the last 10-15 minutes of the boil. It dissolves easily.
    • Amount: 0.5 lb to 1.0 lb (225g – 450g) for a 5-gallon batch.
  2. Mash Temp: Mash high (68°C / 154°F) to create non-fermentable dextrins from the malt, reinforcing the body.
  3. Sanitation: Since there is unfermented sugar left in the beer, sanitation is critical to prevent wild yeast (which can eat some complex sugars) from taking over.

4. Recipe: “Udderly Delicious” Milk Stout

  • Batch Size: 5 Gallons (19 Liters)
  • OG: 1.060
  • FG: 1.022 (High FG is expected!)
  • ABV: 5.0%
  • IBU: 25
  • SRM: 35

Grain Bill

  • 3.6 kg (8 lbs) Maris Otter
  • 0.45 kg (1 lb) Crystal 80L
  • 0.34 kg (0.75 lb) Chocolate Malt
  • 0.23 kg (0.5 lb) Roasted Barley
  • 0.23 kg (0.5 lb) Flaked Oats
  • 0.45 kg (1 lb) Lactose (Milk Sugar) - Add at boil end

Hops

  • 30g (1 oz) East Kent Goldings (5% AA) @ 60 min

Yeast

  • WLP002 English Ale (High Flocculation)

Instructions

  1. Mash: 68°C (154°F) for 60 minutes.
  2. Boil: 60 minutes. Add Lactose with 10 mins remaining.
  3. Ferment: 19°C (66°F).
  4. Carbonation: Low to Medium (2.0 volumes).

5. Variations

  • Coffee Milk Stout: The sweetness of the lactose is the perfect foil for the acidity of coffee. Add cold brew at packaging.
  • Pastry Stout Base: This recipe is the foundation for almost all “Pastry Stouts” (just add vanilla, cacao, coconut, etc.).

Conclusion

Sweet Stout is a comfort beer. It is rich, soothing, and decadent. It challenges the idea that beer must be bitter or dry.