Whey Beer

[Caffrey]

Hi - My wife works for a dairy farm and i have been given the opportunity to use they Whey from the cheese making process to brew beer from. I understand that you have to use a special type of yeast to brew with ,as the normal yeast won't work with the lactose. Does anyone know what the yeast is and where I can get hold of some? Any help and advice would be gratefully received.

 

[BeerCat]

Wow i learn something new every day. I make yogurt for the family and my Mrs drinks the Whey. I hope someone can come along and point you in the right direction.
Welcome to the forum.

 

[SwissBrew]

I have no advice sadly but am very, very interested in your process/product if you ever brew with it!

 

[BeerCat]

I had a quick search and apparently a 330ml bottle has about 7g of protein in it when brewed with Whey. A normal Beer would have around 2g. I suspect they just add a small amount to a normal Beer and you would not need a special Yeast just as when using Lactose in a Stout for instance.

 

[HebridesRob]

Lactobacillus? Not normally something you want near beer.

 

[IainM]

Wyeast do a couple of Brettanomyces strains which can ferment lactose, and are usually used alongside a brewers yeast and lactic bacteria, which also eat lactose (lactobacillus and pediococcus are both also available from Wyeast). I'd never even heard of whey beer before your post, so I'm eager to hear if you come up with something.