Need help improvising

[Acyr90]

I'm looking to make a 1 gallon batch with a bunch of scraps I have laying around before they go bad. The problem is I don't quite have enough ingredients to get the ABV where I want it.

I have about half a pound of DME, and a pound or so of various specialty grains sitting around. Usually I shoot for a pound of DME along with any grains I feel like steeping for color/flavor/etc.

So the question: What are some substitutes that I can use to get a little more fermentable sugar into the wort without thinning the finished product out too much? I have a few pounds of lactose laying around, could I use that to balance out any extra fermentables I use if I don't mind a slightly sweeter end product?

I have quite a bit of chocolate & roasted grains laying around so I might shoot for a sweet stout or something along those lines so I can put the lactose to use. I also have fresh, pure maple syrup; anyone have experience with maple?

TLDR: I need more fermentables. Any suggestions?

 

[flars]

Since you have the lactose your fermentable could be table sugar, corn sugar, or honey, plus other sugars. All of these are 100% fermentable. The lactose would add sweetness and body. Oatmeal would add body without sweetness.

 

[Acyr90]

Hmm, yes. I also have some flaked oats I believe... I should be able to whip something drinkable up

 

[JimRausch]

My third batch ever, back in the 'hey let's try something and see what happens' phase that most everyone seems to go through at some point, I used maple syrup to carbonate a Honey Ginger Wheat. It carbonated well- in fact maybe overcarbonated. No discernable maple flavor, but the ginger was pretty overwhelming. I believe I used a table out of J.P.'s book to figure the amount.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Sounds like the makings of a great mild to me.