High Gravity Yeast

I am fairly new to homebrewing...I'm about to start my 5th batch since tossing my Mr. Beer kit in favor of a real kit. I am about to do a Imperial IPA, which I am trying to build a big hop profile, so I built it with a very high OG. The recipe is here: http://hopville.com/recipe/1660766

I am planning on using two packs of Wyeast 1272: American Ale II with a yeast starter so it can handle the gravity and ferment it down where I want it. My question is, will this be sufficient to handle the OG, or is there a better way to do it?

I have also read using four to five packs of yeast is a good idea for something this high.

Rather than buy several smack packs, why not just do a 2 step starter?
You should be able to get close enough to the required cell count doing that, even without a stir plate.

Via Mr. Malty, three packs without a starter should be adequate for a 5 gallon batch provided they're nice and fresh. I'm interested in why this particular strain of yeast? It looks like this strain adds citrus flavor when you already have a ton of citrus rind coming from your hops choices. I might opt for a cleaner, dryer yeast such as WLP007 or Super San Diego.

I have an even better idea which i love to use. Buy a pack of yeast, brew a smaller beer with it, a pale ale for eg. Harvest the yeast and use it for the next batch.

Ideally you should bottle amd brew on the same day but a week apart is ok too. Don't just pitch on the yeast cake. Do some calculations on how much slurry to pitch.

You save on yeast, have 2 batches of beer and have enough fresh viable and active yeast to brew your big beer with. What's not to love really?

@aiptasia: I am shooting for an I2PA with a lot of citrus flavor to it, I personally enjoy them. I haven't ever used this strain before, and from the research I did it seemed like the citrus notes would be fairly subtle from it. However, I live in El Paso and there is only one one place that sells homebrewing supplies and they are completely out of yeast product, so I guess I have a little more time to research this since I am not starting it for a couple weeks. I'll keep in mind your advise and give it a try this time, my favorite part of making my own beer is if it isn't exactly what I wanted, I just alter the recipe next time.

@Grannyknot: I haven't heard of a two part starter, I'll look into that as well. I don't have a spinner so that method would probably be best for me.

@hairy: My funding for beer making isn't were it is just yet (my wife and I just moved and it took her a bit to find a job in her area) and I'm currently limited to one keg and enough bottles for about two recipes, so I haven't had the chance to reuse the yeast cake. However, as I expand my brewery capabilities, that will definitely become a possibility.

Thanks all for the advice!

Jonwolo, I am from El Paso originally, currently stationed in Columbus MS. I am four batches into the homebrew hobby with my fifth batch upcoming tonight. I just visited EP and was wondering what store you were referring to? I Am surprised that there is not abigger home brew scene in El Paso. While I was there, I went to primos on mesa, and drove to las cruces and checked out coyote home brew store, which was not to badly stocked.