A balanced stout with mild roast character and a full body built on lactose. Notes of chocolate and coffee without any harsh roasted flavours.

Milk Stout, also known as Sweet Stout, is a style that emerged in England during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the time, stouts and porters were already well established as working-class beers, offering dark roasted flavours with a nourishing reputation. Brewers began experimenting with lactose, a sugar derived from milk, which is not fermentable by beer yeast. This meant it remained in the finished beer, lending a natural sweetness, fuller body, and smooth, creamy character.

The addition of lactose gave rise to the name Milk Stout. Early advertising even promoted it as a “nourishing” or “restorative” drink, sometimes suggested for nursing mothers, invalids, and workers needing strength. Labels occasionally featured milk pails, cows, or cream imagery to highlight its wholesome appeal.

By the mid-20th century, regulations in the UK banned breweries from marketing health claims about beer. The term “milk” was restricted, but the style persisted under names like Sweet Stout or simply Cream Stout. Guinness once brewed their own version, but smaller regional breweries, particularly in the UK, kept the style alive.

In modern craft brewing, Milk Stouts remain popular worldwide. The style balances roasted malt flavours of coffee and chocolate with a round, mellow sweetness that makes it more approachable than drier stouts. Today, many brewers use the base as a canvas for creative additions like vanilla, cocoa nibs, coffee beans, or barrel aging. Our recipe is also a great canvas for these additions.

Vitals

Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.017
IBU (Tinseth): 23
BU/GU: 0.40
Colour: 69.5 EBC 

73% efficiency
Batch Volume: 23 L
Boil Time: 60 min

Mash Water: 20.33 L
Sparge Water: 11.04 L
Total Water: 31.37 L
Boil Volume: 28 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.048

Mash

Sacc Rest — 66 °C — 60 min
Mash Out — 75 °C — 10 min

Malts (5.61 kg)

4.3 kg (76.7%) — Simpsons Pale Ale Finest Maris Otter — Grain — 5 EBC
650 g (11.6%) — Blue Lake Milling Oats, Flaked — Grain — 2 EBC
480 g (8.6%) — Joe White Maltings Chocolate Malt — Grain — 750 EBC
180 g (3.2%) — Weyermann Carafa Special III — Grain — 1400 EBC

Other (270 g)

270 g — Brew HQ Milk Sugar (Lactose) — Sugar — 0 EBC

Hops (50 g)

44 g (21 IBU) — Fuggles 4.5% — Boil — 60 min
6 g (2 IBU) — Fuggles 4.5% — Boil — 20 min

Miscs

4.4 g — Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) — Mash
1.1 g — Epsom Salt (MgSO4) — Mash
2.2 g — Gypsum (CaSO4) — Mash
1.1 g — Slaked Lime (Ca(OH)2) — Mash
2.5 g — Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) — Sparge
0.6 g — Epsom Salt (MgSO4) — Sparge
1.2 g — Gypsum (CaSO4) — Sparge
1 items — Whirlfloc — Boil — 15 min

Yeast Options:

1 pkg - Fermentis S-04 SafAle English Ale (recommended)
1 pkg - Bluestone San Diego
1 pkg - Bluestone New England
1 pkg - LalBrew Nottingham

Fermentation

Pitching Temp — 18 °C — 1 days
Main Ferment — 19 °C — 3 days
Main Ferment — 20 °C — 3 days
Diacetyl Rest — 22 °C — 1 days

Carbonation: 2.4 CO2-vol

Water Profile:

Ca2+:  95
Mg2+: 5
Na+: 8
Cl-: 99
SO42-: 75
HCO3-: 68

This is a great base beer for adding cocoa nibs, bourbon, vanilla, dates and all kind of other flavours. Feel free to increase the lactose addition if you’d prefer a sweeter finish. If you'd prefer to use liquid yeast or another strain opt for Bluestone New England, Bluestone San Diego, or Lalbrew Nottingham.