Newb Recipe Help

[Turk10mm]

Hi All,

I've never developed my own recipe before, so I took a look at summersolstice's recipe for the Chimay Blue and made some modifications. I really don't know what I'm doing so any help in reviewing my changes would be appreciated. summersolstice's recipe was a little low on OG according to the guidelines for a belgian dark strong so I tweaked some of the numbers by adding additional extract, and additional grains.

Where I'm really concerned is by adding more torrified wheat to bring the OG up without making the beer too dark. Is my method acceptable for the style or do i need to consider some Light LME instead of more wheat steeping grain?

Any and all help is appreciated.

Minimash
6.65 gallons of water (full boil) accounts for 3 quarts of liquid with a 2gal/hr loss leaving 5.18gal wort
Boil Duration 1 hour
OG 1.092
FG 1.023
21.3 SRM
24.6 IBU
9.18 ABV
310 kcal per 12/oz

Steep Grains
----------------------
Munich Malt - 2lb
Special B - 1lb (+.5lb from summersolstice recipe)
Belgian Aromatic - .25lb
Torrified Wheat - 3lb (+2.5lbs from summersolstice recipe) increased to boost OG. Although I'm not sure if this is the right way to do it

Boil
----------------------
Amber LME - 4lb
Munich LME - 4lb (+1lb from summersolstice recipe)
Lyle's Golden Syrup - 1lb

Hop Schedule
----------------------
Hallertau 3.8%AA - 1oz @ 60minutes
Styrian Goldings 3.5%AA - 1oz @ 45minutes (increased from 30 minutes from summersolstice recipe)

Whirfloc Tablet

White Labs WLP500 Trappist Ale - 2ea Double pitch w/starter

 

[Turk10mm]

It looks like if i add 1.5lb of Pale LME and drop the white wheat from 3lb to 1lb, I can keep the color within guidelines and not use so much wheat. Again, I simply don't know what I'm doing here or what the effects of these changes really will be.

Thanks