Have the day off, so I decided an early taste on this was in order. Clarity is awful (suspended cocoa?) but the taste is amazing. Nice cocoa and coffee start with a slight lingering sweetness. Just a little thin- my fault for cutting the malts short.
Can't wait to see how this is in another couple weeks
EDIT: did I say weeks? Apparently I meant days. I found a rock hard PET bottle and chilled it for a couple days. First pour had TONS of head with great retention (my wife compared it to a root beer float). The coffee and dark chocolate are very present in the scent. First taste was all cocoa and burnt caramel, with a little coffee.
Any complaints about thinness are gone. In less than a week this has transformed from a sweetish porter with not enough body to a rich, tasty, semi-complex, pleasantly dry and SILKY smooth brew, even without the hazelnut.
Clarity is still non existent. I don't expect to be able to see through a dark beer, but to get a sense that I can still see into it. I am guessing this is the cocoa in suspension? I skipped the cocoa on my second batch to use this as a stripped down "base" recipe to experiment on, so we will see.