Milk

[Jimrtl81]

Hi,
I found my way here when looking into biab on some US sites.
Have been brewing for around 15 years on and off, some all grain but mostly from kits and dry malt.
Over the last few months I've been making a lot of edworts apfelwine since it is easy and f...ing amazing.
I was making a batch last night with my 3 yr old son helping. The little bugger poured about half a cup of milk in the fermenter when I turned my back.
I think it will be ok but anyone had any experience with milk in a brew?

Thanks guys this site is bloody good.
Jim

 

[nathanvonbeerenstein]

Lacto fermented apple wine possibly?

 

[technobabble66]

Did he sterilize the milk first?
:lol:

 

[Mardoo]

TimT on here has done a number of experiments using whey in ferments. Can't find the thread though. Mobile search sucks, but search the site for "whey" from a laptop and you should find it.

 

[TimT]

Dude!

The thing is whey has a lot of lactose in it; lactose is unfermentable (by ordinary brewer's yeast at least), so it acts as a sweetener. Whey is (more or less) the non-fatty part of milk, so it's better to add than whole milk. The idea is usually chuck the whey in the boil so any bacteria in it gets killed. Another discovery I made recently is that apparently milk has amylase in it, the enzyme that helps convert malted barley to fermentable sugar, so adding whey during the mash might be a good idea.

Basically I'd let it ferment out. You might get a bit more sweetness and creaminess from the milk and lactose. Wouldn't normally be a taste combination that I'd recommend, but treat as an experiment. There might be some curdling as the apfelwein must acidifies, though this might help to clarify your brew. Apparently fat can also interfere with head retention in brews, though this may not be such an issue with apfelwein.

 

[TimT]

If you ever get into Mongolian brewing you'll find their alcoholic ferments are almost all milk. As Airgead points out in that linked thread, milk also has some fermentable sugars - glucose and galactose.

 

[earle]

When I was in Japan a few years ago I tried a bottle if bilk, beer made with milk. It didn't inspire me to make some at home.

 

[Jimrtl81]

Thanks,
Will see how it goes.

 

[OneEye]

I've been wondering lately how milk would go with a hit of carbonation... never seen a carbonated milk based drink on the market so I'm guessing not too great

 

[chalky]

I brewed kefir on cows milk for a while in a decor plastic container. Occasionally the lid would fall on, and seal, resulting in mildly carbonated & fermented milk.

I would not recommend mildly carbonated milk, especially on your weetbix before work. :unsure:

I've been wondering lately how milk would go with a hit of carbonation... never seen a carbonated milk based drink on the market so I'm guessing not too great

 

[Mardoo]

I've been wondering lately how milk would go with a hit of carbonation... never seen a carbonated milk based drink on the market so I'm guessing not too great

Calpico soda, a carbonated yoghurt-based drink. Hugely popular in parts of Asia. Grape is my favorite.

 

[TimT]

Kefir is sometimes referred to as the 'champagne of yoghurt' precisely because it is carbonated.

In NZ, of course, the dairy industry is huge. I once heard an interview with a NZ farmer who had come up with a way to carbonate milk. "It's not like a soft drink", he explained, "It's more like a savoury drink". He found that the dairy giant Fonterra was trying to out-compete him at the markets, etc, and was understandably miffed. He shouldn't have been; carbonated milk - in the form of kefir - is an idea that's as old as the hills.