Brewing with nuts

[BertusBrew]

Does anybody have an experience in brewing with nuts? I am putting together a recipe for a hazelnut stout. I have no interest in using extracts I would like to use actual hazelnuts. Should I just roast them a bit and throw them in the mash? Any suggestions?

 

[Bmorebrew]

Nuts are pretty high in fat and oils, which can be detrimental to head retention especially. If you insist on using nuts, maybe you could soak them for some time in vodka to extract the flavor compounds and just add that?

 

[BertusBrew]

Yeah, I assumed my head retention would suffer. But, I am kind of a purist and I don't like using extracts to add flavor to my beer. I would rather have good flavor than a long lasting head in this case. I have heard of people soaking things in vodka and adding that, I might go that route.