Woodsy/Smokey Beer- Need a base recipe!

Hey guys,
I'm having a beer competition with a few buds and need some help fine-tuning my recipe. The deal is that we all need to do something different (experiment with spices, new things, etc.). What I'm going to attempt is to boil in hazelnut during part of the brew (10-20 minutes in-between my steep and adding the extract), use a dash of liquid smoke, and to add oak and/or cedar wood into the second ferment. Sound good? Any suggestions?
My biggest problem is that I don't know the base recipe style I want to use. Definitely a lager, that much I know. I want a darker beer, not too bitter, but not too sweet (the extra ingredients will compliment a bitter but non-to-bitter beer). I was looking along the lines of California Common (an ale, I know), but I don't want the fruitiness or ester that comes with it. I guess what I want to do is almost a California common but with a lager yeast so no fruitiness, but I don't know exactly how to go about that. Perhaps a maibock, but with hops boiled in a bit longer for a little added bitterness?
Any ideas are much appreciated! Thank, you guys are awesome!

PS I know a common wood-aged beer is a porter, but neither I nor any of my friends like porters, so I'm staying away from that.

Thanks again!

Marzens are sometimes made smoky. That would be a dark lager well suited for that, although it would make more sense to use rauchmalt than liquid smoke. I'm not sure what to tell you about getting a good flavor mix from the hazelnut with the smoke and oak and hop bitterness.

I've heard bad things about using liquid smoke (though no experience my self). Any reason not to use a smoked malt?

Also, do you need to restrict yourself to a base style? You seem to know what you want, so just make a beer like that, even if there is not official style for it.

The only reason I didn't initially consider smoked malt is because my local (and by local I mean the only one within an hour's drive) homebrew store doesn't carry it; but with what you've said, it will probably be worth the online buy.
And I'm not necessarily looking to stay within a style, I just need a starting point. How much malt? How much hops? Which hops? Boiling time? I figured if I could find a good starting style, it would give me grounds to build upon.

MetuchenBrewerNJ said:

The only reason I didn't initially consider smoked malt is because my local (and by local I mean the only one within an hour's drive) homebrew store doesn't carry it; but with what you've said, it will probably be worth the online buy.
And I'm not necessarily looking to stay within a style, I just need a starting point. How much malt? How much hops? Which hops? Boiling time? I figured if I could find a good starting style, it would give me grounds to build upon.

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OK, given your description of what you are looking for, I would go for a smoked marzen, upping the hops a bit if you want more bitterness or perhap even a smoked altbier. For the smoked malt I would use Weyermann Beechwood Smoked malt (rauchmalt) - and not peat smoked malt - at 15% of you grist.

How's this for a foundational recipe:
Smoked Altbier
68% pilsner malt
15% smoked malt
7.5% Munich malt
7.5% Melanoiden malt
2% Chocolate malt (or Chocolate wheat malt or Carafa malt)

this will give you a beer in the 14ish SRM color range

bitter with a noble hop at 60 minutes to 35-40 IBUs
throw in a small noble hop charge (0.5 oz?) at 30 minutes

ferment with a Kolsch/Alt yeast or a clean lager yeast

If you want more Marzen than Altbier, up the Munich malt