Lactose

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oldbloke
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Lactose

Post by oldbloke » Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:56 pm

I've tried a few artificial sweeteners in my turbociders. Some don't taste good, even in 'just take the edge off' quantities. And I suspect they may be causing the headaches t'missus gets the day after - she never used to.
So I'm thinking of trying lactose, a natural sugar that doesn't ferment. Might be good for body and mouthfeel too - maybe.
My question is: can I just chuck it in at the start, or should I wait until bottling?
And, how much? Just to take the edge off, not to make a sweet cider. The dry end of medium is where I want to be.

MTW
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Re: Lactose

Post by MTW » Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:28 pm

I don't think lactose is very sweet at all. In beer at least, the body it adds is the noticeable thing. How that will offset an otherwise dry cider, I'm not sure.
Busy in the Summer House Brewery

oldbloke
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Re: Lactose

Post by oldbloke » Tue Oct 23, 2018 7:23 am

According to the interwebs, it's 1/6th the sweetness of sucrose.

MTW
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Re: Lactose

Post by MTW » Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:36 am

As regards how much, around 10g/l will add roughly 3 points to the FG (and OG, if you stick it in at the beginning). That's according to my software and has been borne out in my limited experience of putting it in beer. Maybe that helps in terms of thinking FG, but at 1/6th sweetness of sugar, how that adds up in the taste in cider vs the fuller body, you'll have to let me know. Hopefully someone who's done it will jump in, or say why they haven't!
Busy in the Summer House Brewery

RobP
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Re: Lactose

Post by RobP » Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:15 am

Not used it in cider (not much in beer either) but you can use it any point so you could taste some in (say) 100ml before bottling then scale up if you like the results. You'd need to dissolve it before adding to the bulk, I suggest heat it up with your priming sugar.

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