Chocolate Hazelnut Stout

[theo1069]

I am working on putting together a recipe for a chocolate hazelnut stout and am hoping for some input. My thoughts are to start with the left-hand milk stout (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/left-hand-milk-stout-clone-139820/) as a base. I think this will give me what I want as far as the stout goes.... My question is with the flavoring. I have never used lactose, chocolate or hazelnut extract before.

I am thinking:
8oz lactose @ 10 min
8oz Hershey's cocoa powder @ 10 min
1oz - 2oz Hazelnut extract @ Kegging

I am going for a creamy beer with a pretty pronounced chocolate hazelnut flavor. I want it to feel like your biting into a Ferrero Rocher. Can anyone give me any input as to what I can expect or suggestions to improve?

The hazelnut extract says to use 2oz for a 5 gallon batch, but everything I am researching is suggesting no more than an ounce. Anyone have any experience with this stuff?

Thanks in advance!

 

[nostalgia]

I'm doing a hazelnut porter right now - I'm going to rack it to the keg today, in fact. Unfortunately, I have no experience the extract as I roasted 18oz of whole hazelnuts, food processed them and racked onto them.

When I was going to use extract, I had planned 1oz per 5 gallons, if that helps.

For my chocolate stout I used 4oz of cocoa powder at 10 minutes. I added 4oz of cacao nibs soaked in bourbon to the secondary. It came out fantastic - good chocolate notes without tasting like Hershey's syrup (I'm looking at you, Sam Adam's Chocolate Bock).

I've only used lactose in 1 recipe - a caramel cream ale. 4oz in the boil and 4oz at kegging time. It was definitely creamy. Almost velvety, like drinking liquid caramel.

-Joe

 

[theo1069]

Thank you for the input. I didn't even consider using cacao nibs.

 

[nostalgia]

You're quite welcome. I tasted the porter last night - very, very toasted nutty. Not the hazelnut flavor I associate with hazelnuts, like in flavored coffee or cookies.

I'm on the fence about it. We'll see what it's like after a few weeks of carbing and conditioning.

I'll definitely try the extract next time.

-Joe