Anniversary Ale

I looking to design my own brew for me and SWMBO to have as an anniversary celebration beer. Its got to be big and since d-day is 18/12/10 it will be 18/12/11 when we first crack one open. Im thinking of doing either a Barleywine or a RIS, each of which will be my first and whichever I chose I will boil down the first runnings to make a thick syrup to add some unfermentables and complexity to the beer. I will adjust my water to better suit the beer I decide to brew. Heres the two recipes Im considering so far:

Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Brewer: Pommy
Batch Size: 23.00 L Assistant Brewer: Weezledog
Boil Volume: 30.44 L Boil Time: 120 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.0 % Equipment: Weezledog Home Breweries

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.50 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 65.0 %
1.00 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
1.00 kg Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
0.50 kg Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 5.0 %
0.50 kg Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 5.0 %
0.50 kg Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5.0 %
50.00 gm Pacific Gem [14.40%] (60 min) Hops 55.6 IBU
50.00 gm Pacific Gem [14.40%] (15 min) Hops 27.6 IBU
50.00 gm Pacific Gem [14.40%] (5 min) Hops 11.1 IBU
1 Pkgs SafBrew Specialty Ale (DCL Yeast #T-58) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.104 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.026 SG
Estimated Color: 63.6 SRM
Bitterness: 94.3 IBU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 10.3 %

Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 23.00 L of water at 83.5 C 70.0 C 60 min

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Style: English Barleywine Brewer: Pommy
Batch Size: 23.00 L Assistant Brewer: Weezledog
Boil Volume: 30.44 L Boil Time: 120 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.0 % Equipment: Weezledog Home Breweries

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.70 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 87.0 %
0.50 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.0 %
0.30 kg Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3.0 %
0.20 kg Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 2.0 %
0.10 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 1.0 %
0.10 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 1.0 %
0.05 kg Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 0.5 %
0.05 kg Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 0.5 %
50.00 gm Pacific Gem [14.40%] (60 min) Hops 53.9 IBU
25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [6.40%] (15 min) Hops 5.9 IBU
25.00 gm Fuggles [4.20%] (15 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
25.00 gm Fuggles [4.20%] (0 min) Hops -
25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [6.40%] (0 min) Hops -
2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafBrew Specialty Ale (DCL Yeast #T-58) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.109 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.027 SG
Estimated Color: 16.1 SRM
Bitterness: 63.7 IBU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 10.7 %

Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 23.00 L of water at 83.5 C 70.0 C 60 min

So anybody have any advice for me, this is obviously a very special brew for me so your taking the time to read through the recipes is much appreciated.

For the imperial stout I would go with a darker crystal malt than the cara-pils (say a blend of ~60 and ~120), a 1.104 beer will have plenty of body on its own, but the darker crystal/cara malts will add dark fruit and caramel flavors that will blend well with the dark malt. I would also use a yeast other than T-58 (which is Belgian-ish), say S-04, US-05, or Nottingham if you want to use dry yeast.

Barleywine looks good, although I'd probably drop the chocolate and roasted barley unless you want a darker barleywine. Some of the best English barleywines are nothing more than pale malt with a long boil for color. Some thought on the T-58, I'd switch to another strain.

Other than that just a few general tips on high gravity beers: pitch lots of yeast (2 packs of rehydrated dry should get it done), give it plenty of aeration at pitching, keep the fermentation temp towards the low end for the strain (but let it rise a bit towards the end), and give the beer plenty of time in primary and secondary before bottling.

Good luck, should be good beers to save for a few anniversaries to come.

Thanks for all the advice Oldsock, if I go with the barleywine I will drop the dark malts and if I do the stout I will get the darkest crystal I can 80 or 120 I think. I know the T-58 is getting towards a Belgian yeast and I was thinking somewhere in between an English barleywine and a Belgian ale could be a good thing? I was thinking of fermenting cool and with slowly letting the temp rise through fermentation and with the long conditioning time (up to 5 years) I could end up with something good? Not tried my first brew with this yeast yet so will have to see how that played out.