Hazelnut Flavor Question

Hi everyone,

I'm brewing a stout (fermenting away as we speak) to which I'd like add a bit of hazelnut flavoring. Accordingly, I'm planning on adding a few ounces in secondary or (more likely) at bottling. Now I know several people have tried this in different forms here, but I'm unsure of what brand of hazelnut extract to actually buy. The reviews on Amazon are horrible, suggesting that there's a lack of good flavoring on the market.

Any of you have any recommendations on the brand of extract and/or amount? I'd like to avoid either (a) having to make my own (hazelnuts can be expensive!) or (b) using Torani hazelnut syrup in extract's place.

Thanks in advance...

I had good luck with Frangelico. There was another thread a few days ago with a similar question: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/substitutes-hazelnut-extract-209831/

I bought a 2oz bottle from my LHBS, I think it's Brewcraft, when I made Jamil's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter and added .5oz at bottling with the priming sugar. The hazelnut flavor in that beer is very nice, any more than that and it might be a little overpowering. Before you add "a few ounces" pour a measured amount in to a measuring cup and add a drop at a time until it tastes right to you, then scale it up.

Yeah, I posted that thread a few days back. I've never had such a hassle trying to get the correct flavoring. I highly recommend against buying any of those organic extracts, I went through 4 oz with absolutely no flavor. I would also stay away from sugar free torani as the taste is way off, but if you use regular Torani you will have to calculate for the sugars that will be fermented.

A lot of people say frangelico works, but most report a very subtle flavor. I finally gave up in the end and ordered a bottle of the extract that most use (from morebeer.com) since it only takes a day to ship to me (I had a deadline to get this stuff in the bottle). It's interesting though, while the flavor is definitely there...it kinda tastes like caramel corn to me. I don't know if that's what hazelnut tastes like...but whatever, it's out of the keg and into the bottle, so what's done is done

arover said:

Yeah, I posted that thread a few days back. I've never had such a hassle trying to get the correct flavoring. I highly recommend against buying any of those organic extracts, I went through 4 oz with absolutely no flavor. I would also stay away from sugar free torani as the taste is way off, but if you use regular Torani you will have to calculate for the sugars that will be fermented.

A lot of people say frangelico works, but most report a very subtle flavor. I finally gave up in the end and ordered a bottle of the extract that most use (from morebeer.com) since it only takes a day to ship to me (I had a deadline to get this stuff in the bottle). It's interesting though, while the flavor is definitely there...it kinda tastes like caramel corn to me. I don't know if that's what hazelnut tastes like...but whatever, it's out of the keg and into the bottle, so what's done is done

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Hazelnuts do have a Carmel like flavor but there is a definite nuttiness as well. My Wife and I drink Hazelnut flavored Coffee and I get the same flavors from the beer as I do in the coffee.

Thanks, everyone, for the advice. I'll be sure to use a tad and scale up until I get the right flavor--in fact, the "few ounces" I referred to was assuming I went through arover's hassle in using the organic stuff being peddled on Amazon (thanks to arover, by the way, for taking one for the team!). I'm leaning towards using one of the extracts available from homebrew sites (which people seem to report more success with in general).

Ideally, I suppose, I'd like to make my own extract as a point of principle (that principle being as much control as possible over the actual ingredients one uses, home-made through and through), but the time and perhaps the cost seem prohibitive. Any one have any success making their own? I'm worried that I'll get to the end of the process and only have something like the cheap Amazon stuff to show for it. I'm also concerned about the oils (i.e. fat) that I assume are the actually flavor of the homemade stuff. Will these oils spoil the beer if I throw them in at bottling?

It's going to be more trouble than it's worth. Even the Jamil's book with his award winning Chocolate Hazelnut Porter recipe recommends not dealing with making your own extract.

The homebrew stores know what's up, I originally didn't want to order from Morebeer as the shipping costs more than the extract, but it's in Concord and, assuming you're shipping to LA, shouldn't take more than maybe 2 days via ground shipping. Just a suggestion...I ended up wasting close to 20 bucks after the whole extract deal was done, but I was refusing to admit defeat so I guess that's what happens ;-)