Creamy Milk Stout — Home Brew Recipe
Share
Style: Milk Stout | ABV: ~4.8% | Volume: 23 litres | Difficulty: Beginner-Intermediate
About This Recipe
A classic milk stout — smooth, creamy, and lightly sweet with rich coffee and chocolate notes. The addition of lactose (milk sugar) creates the silky body and residual sweetness that defines the style. Perfect for autumn and winter evenings.
Ingredients
- 2.8kg dark malt extract
- 300g Dark Crystal Malt (Thomas Fawcett)
- 250g Lactose — added at end of boil
- 30g Bullion hops (T90 Pellet) — 60 min
- 1 packet Gervin GV12 Ale Yeast
- ½ Protafloc tablet — 15 min
- Carbonation drops for bottling
Method
- Sterilise all equipment with steriliser.
- Steep crushed dark crystal malt in 3L at 67°C for 30 min. Remove grains and bring liquid to boil.
- Add malt extract and start 60-minute boil. Add Bullion hops at 60 min, Protafloc at 15 min.
- At flameout, stir in lactose until fully dissolved.
- Cool to below 25°C, top up to 23L and pitch yeast.
- Ferment at 18–20°C for 7 days. Add beer finings 24 hours before bottling.
- Check gravity with hydrometer, then bottle with carbonation drops.
- Condition 2–3 weeks. Serve at 10–12°C.
Brewer's Notes
Lactose is non-fermentable, so it won't affect your final gravity reading or create over-carbonation. You can adjust the amount to taste — up to 400g for a sweeter, fuller-bodied beer.