2nd Anniversary Gift Recipe Help!

[Golden Heart Skeptic]

So this girl and I have been going out for almost two years. We're brewing a beer that will be ready on our anniversary. Anyways, what I'm saying is that I found a woman who loves beer and loves brewing, so since I've been tasked with the recipe, this needs to be good.

I have a couple concerns:

Will it have too much body?
Will it be sweet or too sweet?
Is it balanced well with the hops?

It's a combination of all our favorite things in beer. It's something like an Imperial Oatmeal Milk Stout, aged on vanilla beans, cacao nibs, and oak. On top of that the yeast is supposedly going to give it an oaky flavor. I have my concerns about the yeast too, which apparently has problems dropping out sometimes.

The flavor I'm trying to go for is a sweetness and body maybe somewhere between a milk stout and an oatmeal stout but with a little complexity or just that extra flavor from the nibs, beans, and oak. What I want from the grain bill is that it will be dark and chocolatey but with a little roasty hint and an even smaller hint of raisin.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.37 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.24 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.088 SG
Estimated Color: 36.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 41.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 87.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
12 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 75.0 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.3 %
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (Briess) (1.4 SRM) Grain 3 6.3 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.1 %
4.0 oz Caramel Malt - 120L (Briess) (120.0 SRM) Grain 5 1.6 %
4.0 oz Roasted Barley (Briess) (300.0 SRM) Grain 6 1.6 %
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 7 6.3 %
0.50 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 16.9 IBUs
0.50 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 40.0 min Hop 9 14.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 10 10.0 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 11 -
1.0 pkg London Ale (White Labs #WLP013) [35.49 m Yeast 12 -
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Other 13 -
4.00 oz Cacao Nibs (Primary 2.0 weeks) Spice 14 -
1.00 Items Vanilla Beans (Primary 2.0 weeks) Spice 15 -
2.00 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 7.0 days) Flavor 16 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 16 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 21.95 qt of water at 162.0 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (0.40gal, 4.09gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------
ADD LACTOSE AT 15 MINUTES IN THE BOIL


Any notes or thoughts you might have? I want to make this good.

 

[MrSpaz]

I personally would be concerned that you might be doing too much for one beer. That's my opinion but I've only got 8 beers under my belt and you might have way more experience and know what your doing. I might concentrate in a few things like oatmeal stout with vanilla bean or something like that. Too much can sometimes be a bad thing (not too much beer of course!!)

 

[Golden Heart Skeptic]

Yeah, I know I'm going for too much on it. I think we'll do a simpler one a couple brews down the road, but this will be no normal brew...bad maybe...but not normal. I think I'm mostly worried about attenuation and even more...the level of hops. Are the IBUs that touchy between a sweet stout and oatmeal stout? Or should O overshoot a little to make up for the vanilla beans in secondary?

 

[MrSpaz]

Definitely not bad my friend. Go for it. Then let me know how it goes!