Should i add hazlenut extract in my first nut ale

[cincilovesbeer]

Hey guys im bout to brew my third batch and want to do a nice nut ale. Really want to get a heavy nut flavor in the beer. Going to use fruggle hops to bitter and centinial to flavor and aroma. Choc malt, black pat, carapils, and 60L as my grain. probly 9lbs LME liquid. was concidering adding hazelnut extract, although didn't know when, how much, or even if it is needed to get that good nut flav. what do you all think? ohh yeah and using WL007 as my yeast strain.

Prim. Power Porter
Second. Copper Ale.
Bottle..... hopefully soon!

 

[IllWill]

"Unless you are a giant commercial brewery trying to save pennies, there is never an excuse for using artificial flavors; they taste and smell artificial because they ARE artificial. One of the points of homebrewing is to make something special that is a reflection of your personality. You don't want to be known as the artificial beer guy (or gal)" - Sam Calagione

 

[14thstreet]

Consider brewing the batch as you've planned but without adding the hazelnut extract until you are ready to bottle. Before priming your beer, draw off 3 to 4 separate samples of 2-4oz each into glasses and dose with different amounts of extract. You'll want to find a sample where you just begin to taste the hazelnut without it overwhelming all the other flavors. As with any spice, this can be easy to overdo it.

Record how much of extract you added to the sample you like and scale up that amount to the portion of your full batch you'd like to spice. I'd recommend bottling some beer that has not been spiced for comparison's sake - doing so will help save some beer in case the rest goes bad and it will double your experience!

 

[copyright1997]

Consider brewing the batch as you've planned but without adding the hazelnut extract until you are ready to bottle. Before priming your beer, draw off 3 to 4 separate samples of 2-4oz each into glasses and dose with different amounts of extract. You'll want to find a sample where you just begin to taste the hazelnut without it overwhelming all the other flavors. As with any spice, this can be easy to overdo it.

Record how much of extract you added to the sample you like and scale up that amount to the portion of your full batch you'd like to spice. I'd recommend bottling some beer that has not been spiced for comparison's sake - doing so will help save some beer in case the rest goes bad and it will double your experience!

+1. I'm fairly new to brewing (since I hadn't brewed for about 15 years I figure I'm starting over). When baking, I do a lot of creative things, i.e. don't really follow a recipe...but, I try to always follow the recipe the first time so that I have a baseline to go by and can compare my changes to the original to see what I've improved and what I haven't. It works great in cooking/baking and it may be even more important in brewing.

 

[llamabox]

I plan on trying this also and found a good spot of organic hazelnut extract.
Organic Flavoring Extracts from Mountain Rose Herbs

I am halfway through drinking my first Brown and I am positive I want to make another batch ASAP so I was debating additions for secondary.

 

[cincilovesbeer]

Consider brewing the batch as you've planned but without adding the hazelnut extract until you are ready to bottle. Before priming your beer, draw off 3 to 4 separate samples of 2-4oz each into glasses and dose with different amounts of extract. You'll want to find a sample where you just begin to taste the hazelnut without it overwhelming all the other flavors. As with any spice, this can be easy to overdo it.

Record how much of extract you added to the sample you like and scale up that amount to the portion of your full batch you'd like to spice. I'd recommend bottling some beer that has not been spiced for comparison's sake - doing so will help save some beer in case the rest goes bad and it will double your experience!

Thanks guys, yeah this seems like the smartest/safest way to experiment with extract. Ive even heard of people adding it to secondary but im sure its all to preference. I would love to do whole nuts but i fear the oils will have too much effect on the head retention so why not go extract. Well its time to stop talking and fire up the burner! Thanks guys ill let you know how she turns out!

 

[14thstreet]

I'd like to try nuts too and have the same concerns as you do about the oils. Check this out for a process that may work around this problem.