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I'm planning to brew an scottish heavy ale, and I wanted to give it a little different aroma using hazelnuts (other stuff too, but I want hazelnuts to be the main aroma). How do you suggest i use them? I was thinking of getting fresh ones, baking them in the oven to get some oils out and then crushing them to pieces and putting them in the second fermenter using the dryhop net.

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2 Answers

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Seems about right to me. You could soak those in Frangelico if you wanted to go really uh "nuts."

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I forgot to mention I was thinking soaking them in vodka for sanitation, but the idea of using frangelico is even better. Cheers! ;) – Tetragrammaton Jan 25 '10 at 15:54
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Too much oil from real nuts, IMO.
I'd say to get some hazelbut extract and use that. You'll have to titrate it in a little at a time to get to where you want to be. Pour yourself 12oz and drop it in, mixing and stirring as you go. When the balance seems right do the math for how many 12oz there is in your whole batch , then add that many drops more to the whole thing.

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So do you mean that the "oily" part will be too present in the final beer thus leaving a bad feeling in the mouth? I'm not pretty sure whether i can find hazelnut extract, I've never seen it in stores. Good thinking anyway. – Tetragrammaton Jan 25 '10 at 15:56
The fat content of the nuts in your beer will be adverse for head retention. It won't impact the mouthfeel or flavor all that much. Also using an extract will be more predictable and measurable in the future for repeat batches. You can easily find hazelnut extract in the baking section of any supermarket. Pay money for the better stuff when comparing brands. – brewchez Jan 25 '10 at 16:26
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Much easier to control concentration with this method. Seems like cheating though. – Dean Brundage Jan 25 '10 at 19:06
In the end its about the quality of the flavor in the final product. How you get there matters little to me. So I say go for the extracts that whats they are there for. – brewchez Jan 27 '10 at 20:30
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It's also worth mentioning that fats go rancid. Adding oil to your brew will significantly shorten its lifespan. That's not a problem if you're going to drink it all in a couple of months, but after six months you could have some foul beer. – JackSmith Feb 9 '10 at 14:41

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