Question on Lactose

[rich24]

I made sure to put this in the 'stupid stuff' category, because this is truly stupid - but with explanation.

I had a near disaster in my brewery yesterday evening - flooded the work area out with near boiling water (got wet, burned, punked). I stemmed the source of the flood, then I had to come back this morning and prior to starting a brew session to finally sort it out (had to wait for the water to cool). So I stepped into a brew session for a milk stout this morning already stressed out.

The brew session went great, until I realized right after the wort was crashed and transferred to primary THAT I FORGOT TO ADD THE LACTOSE!

Totally stupid.

So, with quick research, I see some homebrewer threads mentioning adding lactose post boil. Seems dodgy for a 6 barrel batch, but wondering if anyone has ever gone that route of adding lactose either during secondary fermentation, into a brite, etc.

[mmussen]

I've added some extra lactose to an FV post fermentation when I wasn't happy with the sweetness. I dissolved the lactose in boiling water in a yeast brink, let it cool and then added it through the racking arm. It worked for me, but I wasn't adding very much lactose. I'm not sure how well that would work to add 50 lbs or so...

[dick murton]

Since lactose is non fermentable, it should really matter when you add it. However, you need to consider that you will be better off dissolving it first, preferably boiling it to sterilise it, then cooling back to current FV temperature. If you got a reduced volume in the FV, at normal gravity when you collected the wort, then you can make the lactose solution with sufficient water to give you the right gravity (and volume) after addition. Don't forget that you will have to use the collected gravity, not the current part fermented gravity for the calculation.

Personally I would add the lactose as soon as possible just in case there are any fermentables in there, and I would expect a small %age of fermentable non lactose sugars in there, in spite of what the supplier says.

[scotts]

Ditto to what others have said. I've added more lactose post-fermentation to increase sweetness. Dissolve in water, boil, cool, then add.