Milk Stout

What is Milk Stout?

Milk stout, also known as cream stout or sweet stout, is a stout which contains milk sugar, i.e. lactose. Since beer yeast cannot ferment lactose, cream stout is sweeter and fuller-bodied than regular dry stout.

Milk sugar also gives the beer a creamy, smooth texture.

In terms of flavour profile, malt sweetness, chocolate, and caramel dominate. The dark roasted malt also gives the beer a subtly bitter note.

Origin Story

While stout emerged from porters in the 18th century, sweeter milk stout only arrived on the scene in the late 19th century.

In 1907, Mackeson Brewery in England introduced milk stout, featuring a milk churn on its label. It was a low-alcohol beer (3%) to which lactose powder was added during boiling.

After Mackeson’s successful debut of milk stout, other breweries attempted to copy the style, but initially, they did not achieve much success.

Milk stout reached the peak of its popularity in the 20th century. It was advertised as a healthy beverage and was consumed by nursing mothers and athletes alike. Doctors even recommended it to their patients.

After World War II, the British government ordered brewers to remove the word "milk" from their labels and advertisements as the beer did not actually contain milk, only milk sugar. Instead of milk stout, the term "sweet stout" began to be used in Great Britain.

By the end of the 20th century, the popularity of this style began to decline in Britain. However, milk stout enthusiasts could still be found elsewhere, particularly in South Africa, where it had become very popular. South African breweries released Castle Milk Stout in 2003 as a collaborative project brewed in nine African countries.

American craft brewers have also embraced this style and experimented with flavours and brewing techniques. Some modern brewers, for example, add milk sugar to the beer after fermentation. Others add nitrogen to the beer upon serving to make it smoother, similar to Guinness.