How to add nuts to a stout.

BLOOP!

 

First batch...my advice is don't add nuts or anything else that's not in the recipe. And actually, I wouldn't make an Imperial anything for a first batch. Start simple with a low to mid gravity beer. And read this... www.howtobrew.com first.

 

Consider an extract and be stingy on how much you add. A little goes a long way. Start with 1/8tsp and taste.

 

I agree with the above cautions about not trying this with your first batch. First batches usually have some flaws because of difficulty with process. You want to minimize the flaws so the beer is drinkable. Inadequate sanitation, pitching rate, oxygenation, and temperature control are common sources of flaws. If you make a high gravity beer your exposure to flaws related to pitching rate, oxygen, and temperature increase fairly substantially. It's homebrew, you can try what you want. But you might consider trying something easier first. I'm guessing this is not the discussion you want to start, so here are my uninformed thoughts on nuts:

I've never brewed with nuts, but have read that others have. I have tasted a commercial beer that used an almond extract and I found it cloying; knowing how much extract to add would require trial and error, possibly adding to small volumes of beer (i.e., after fermentation) and then scaling up when you think you have the ratios right. If you can find a high quality nut extract (not oil), maybe that is the way to go.

But perhaps you believe that using actual nuts is somehow purer than using extracts, or that there are flavor elements in actual nuts that are not present in extracts that could make it to your beer if you have the know how (I don't. Remember, I haven't tried this). You have already come across the idea that oils in actual nuts may prevent head formation. Since oils float on water, you could try to leave the oil layer behind when you transfer the wort or beer. Which raises the question,when do you add nuts to the beer? A starchy nut like a chestnut might get mashed. I think I have heard of Italian brewers adding chestnuts to the mash. Adding nuts to a boil might extract more flavor (and more oil?). I suppose you could dry-nut your beer, too. Moving back to extracts, you might be able to make your own by soaking nuts in strong spirits.

 

512 Brewing here in Austin makes a world-class Pecan Porter, and I believe they add it to the mash FWIW. Does affect head retention, but its not that big of a deal.

 

I believe some breweries have experienced infected beers from letting the beer sit on nuts in the fermentor because of the difficulty in sterilizing the nuts. I agree that to try this on a first brew (if you are new at this hobby) is not advisable, but if you proceed anyway, those nuts probably have to go into the boil somehow to reduce the infection exposure, or else you'll have to use an extract of the nut flavor that you want in the fermentor.