Nutty idea

So my 10th batch of beer is coming up and I want to do something special. A buddy and I decided to dedicate the batch to President Jimmy Carter because of his wonderful signature that made homebrewing legal. We chose a chocolate/peanut butter/oatmeal stout. We want to do something a little more nutty though. Quite literally.

My question is, has anyone tried using peanut shells in the mash in a similar fasion as rice hulls?

I personally thought that it could be done, but it may slow the drain considerably. Not a problem for me as I fly sparge slowly anyway.

Any thoughts?

have you tasted the shells? I haven't gotten much nut flavor from them when i've tried just tastes like straw or wood to me. you could do it though, I've heard of people using cocoa bean shell mulch in the mash with no issues, though again not sure how much it added flavorwise.

There's a post around here somewhere about someone putting together a Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout and using dry peanut butter...Bell Plantation, Inc. - PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter - Chocolate PB2

I believe that had some success with it but had to use quite a bit. Do some searching and you should find it.

And feel free to update on the results, that sounds like a great idea!

Yeah I saw the PB2 and was going to use that in the recipe.

As far as taste of the shells is concerned, I'm not that worried. Just using a little bit of unsalted shells in the mash shouldn't impart much flavor. We'll see though. It will probably be a couple weeks before I can brew this though. My LHBS is only open on Saturdays and I have to work the next two.

Maybe I can persuade a friend to pick up stuff though. Hell, maybe I can talk them into buying a conical while thet're at it.