Graduation Winter IPA

Hey All:

A fellow brewer and I are attempting to make a beer ready for May 12th and was wondering if I could get some advice. The point is to get an IIPA, but with a softer finish. This is the product of one too many Hop Henges from Deschutes as well as a mixture of an IPA I made and a Full Sail Wassail Clone.

Here is what we came up with:

10 oz. Crystal 40L
1 oz. Chocolate Malt
1 oz. Roasted Barley

8 lbs. Pale DME

Hops:
1 oz Summit / 2 oz. Amarillo (60 Min)
1.5 oz. Cascade and Centennial and 1 oz. Simcoe (mixed and distributed from 45 min to 0 min)
1 oz. Summit / Amarillo Dry Hop

Yeast:

Safale 56 or doing an English Ale.

Any ideas would be welcomed!

That Chocolate and Roasted barley is gonna darken the beer up for sure. I'm not sure if I'd want those is my IIPA, but to each their own. Maybe add a bit of Caraoils for a softer finish? Have you run the recipe through beer-smith or tasty brew or something? Also make sure to get started on this soon. I just brewed my Graduation Imperial IPA a week or two ago, and I'm worried about it being aged well enough for May 20th. Good luck!
-Ben

I agree on the chocolate and roasted barley...I'd consider an ounce of one or the other. You don't want any roasty flavors sneaking in to an IIPA.

Thank you for your assistance.

I'm going to brew 'er up tonight!