Mike Dewes Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Is lactose a suitable sugar for beverage alcohol production? I've had trouble finding examples of it's use for this purpose. Any knowledge anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoski Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Look at Vermont Spirits White Vodka. http://www.vermontspirits.com/site.html#/home Cheers, Drew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scohar Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I don't think lactose is fermentable by itself, but must be converted to simple sugars by enzyme. If I remember from high school biology correctly, I believe the enzyme is beta lactase. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monster Mash Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Lactose is unfermentable. Brewers use it to make milk stout which os often referred to as sweet stout since the lactose is unfermentable the final product retains sweetness. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tellner Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Is lactose a suitable sugar for beverage alcohol production? I've had trouble finding examples of it's use for this purpose. Any knowledge anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Lactose is not directly usable by the usual yeasts. That's why it's used to sweeten milk stouts, for instance. With enzymes such as lactase it can be converted into fermentable sugars. There are microorganisms which can use the sugars in milk. I'm not sure if it's ever been done on a large commercial scale. Malted grains, cane syrup and grapes are much more straightforward and cheaper. The Alaska Bootlegger's Bible mentions a priest who made fermented milk beverages. Kefir is very slightly alcoholic. Koumis is somewhat more so. I do not think either has ever been distilled, nor would I want to taste the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejwoodnz Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Lactose Distillation has been done for many years in New Zealand - over 20,000,000 litres a year. "The technology to process deproteinated whey into ethyl alcohol was developed in Europe about 20 years ago and was purchased from Ireland by the Anchor Ethanol Company in the late 1970s. Since that time two plants have been established, at Tirau (using a continuous fermentation process) and Reporoa (using a batch fermentation process). The combined annual production of these two plants is 11 000 000 litres of ethanol. Two further independent distilleries based on whey have subsequently been built in New Zealand, producing an additional 6 000 000 litres. " http://nzic.org.nz/ChemProcesses/dairy/3H.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 The best known example probably is Mongolian kumis, made from mare's milk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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