Help putting together a recipe

[bl00]

Hi all- I'm very much a noob, so I don't know if I'm jumping the gun in trying something like this, but I wanted to try to put together a recipe and would love some feedback.

I'm going for a beer similar to New Belgium's Cocoa Mole.

Here's what I have so far:

3 lbs Munich LME
3 lbs Amber LME
3 lbs Amber DME

Specialty grains:
1 lb chocolate
1 lb flaked barley
1 lb crystal

2 oz of Target hops- I'm not sure what the best boil schedule for this would be, but I've calculated 36 IBU's for a 30 minute boil. Will that be bitter enough for a beer this intense?

Yeast is also an area I'm feeling less certain about. Should I just stick with a solid american strain from Wyeast or White labs?


I also haven't ironed down the additives yet, but I'm thinking 50/50 serrano and chipotle peppers in a secondary, cocoa nibs and maybe some cocoa powder for aroma?

Thanks again for any feedback or input, I know I'm really new to this and have probably made some oversights in the recipe.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

You have a good amount of darker malts.
I would replace the amber with 6pds of light DME and cut the chocolate to .5pd less if your going for a brown ale.
.5oz target @ 60 1oz @15 for a mellow hop backround or up the 60min to an ounce for more of a stout hop bite. (not sure what style your going for)
I would use a c40-60 and once again according to style adjust from around .5-1oz

Becareful with peppers ive done 1 deseeded deveined habenero in a 1 gallon batch and it was HOT till it mellowed, not sure what to take from it since it was a mead and aged perfectly but fresh i would think twice.
Also cocoa powder can be very messy i would stick with the cocoa nibs to get aroma

 

[bl00]

Thanks for the info! I'll have to think about all of that as I refine my direction for the recipe.