Chocolate Peppermint Imperial Stout- Partial Mash

[StatePennBrewing]

This is my first attempt at recipe formulation. The goal is to create a high gravity Christmas beer with a distinct bitter chocolate flavor and peppermint finish. Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated. All calculations were done without the help of brewing software.

Batch size: 5 gallons (60 minute, 3 gallon partial boil)
Method: Partial mash (single infusion) with steeping grains
Efficiency: 70%
OG: 1.095
FG: 1.024
IBU: 57

Fermentables:
11 lb Light LME (50% late addition)
2 lb Two Row Malt (mash)
1 lb Crystal 60L (mash)
0.5 lb Flaked Oats (mash)
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (steep)
0.25 Black Patent (steep)

Hops:
2 oz Kent Goldings (5% AA) @ 60 minutes
1 oz Kent Goldings (5% AA) @ 45 minutes
1 oz Kent Goldings (5% AA) @ 30 minutes
1 oz Chinook (12% AA) @ 15 minutes

Yeast:
WLP 007 Dry English Ale with starter

Additional Ingredients:
0.75 to 1 tbsp Peppermint Extract in secondary
0.5 lb Cacao Nibs (possibly a tincture) in secondary
0.5 lb Lactose late in boil

 

[rexbanner]

I can't comment on the additional ingredients, but the recipe looks good, with just a few minor adjustments.

Drop the chocolate malt to .5 lb. Replace the patent with roasted barley and raise it to .5 lb. Change the c-60 to c-40. Eliminate all hops except 60 minute additions, and use a neutral hop such as warrior or galena, or an English hop such as challenger. Use enough to get to 40 IBU.

 

[StatePennBrewing]

I definitely agree with the changes to Crystal 40L and Roasted Barley. I believe they will help me better achieve the target flavor profile and color. I am curious as to why you recommended eliminating the later hop additions. Is this a matter of staying within style guidelines? Or just a simple suggestion?

 

[libeerty]

The hops should just be in the background, supporting everyone else in a brew like this. If you add them later, you will be tasting and smelling hops, when you should be tasting chocolate and mint. Also, chocolate imparts bitterness, so you need less IBUs than you might otherwise want.

 

[jason91notch]

This sounds good... If I wanted to make this with a lower ABV, could I just lower the LME to say, 7lbs to achieve 6.5-7%? Or should I lower the grains as well?