Help me with a Belgian STRONG Ale

What do you think? Anyone with experience brewing high-gravity ales, I'd love to hear your take!

Solstice Sipper:
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 12.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.128 SG
Estimated Color: 18.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 95.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 300 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
20.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) 68.4 %
2.00 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) 6.8 %
1.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) 5.1 %
1.00 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) 3.4 %
1.00 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) 3.4 %
1.00 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) 3.4 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) 1.7 %
0.25 lb Special B Malt (130.0 SRM) 0.9 %
2.00 lb Invert Sugar (Boil 10 min) 6.8 %
[Total Grain Weight: 29.25 lb]
1.50 oz Magnum [14.00%] (70 min) 56.3 IBU
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00%] (60 min) 10.4 IBU
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00%] (50 min) 9.9 IBU
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00%] (40 min) 9.1 IBU
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00%] (20 min) 6.3 IBU
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00%] (10 min) 3.6 IBU
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00%] (0 min) -
0.10 oz Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 min)
0.25 oz Clove (Boil 5.0 min)
0.25 oz Ginger Root (Boil 10.0 min)
0.25 oz Nutmeg (Boil 5.0 min)
0.75 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 10.0 min)
0.50 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 21.0 days)

4L slurry Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) Yeast-Ale

 One quick tip - reduce your efficiency.  You will probably lose about 10-15% brewhouse efficiency when brewing a high gravity ale due to the huge amount of grain you have in your mash tun and (relatively) small amount of water.

 However I see that you have already offset that somewhat with the really long boil (300 minutes!!), so your loss might not be quite that large.  Still you will probably lose at least some efficiency off of your normal batch efficiency.

 It looks like your OG is a little high for a Belgian strong ale - you are really into the "barleywine" category with a 1.128.  You might want to reduce it just a bit.  Also, Belgian strongs usually have much less bitterness - as low as 15-30 IBUs (they are malty).  Check your numbers against the new 2004 style guide.

Cheers!
Brad

My effeiciency is usually 75-78%, so I'm hoping by collecting 12G of wort it won't go much lower than 70. Remains to be seen, though. I'm mashing at 1.5/1, which is pretty thin. I'll let you know how that part comes out.
As for the gravity, yes, I intend to make  (cut all additions in half and that's about where it was), which just didn't seem right with an OG of over 1.120; I was afraid it would taste cloying.
I really have no experience in this realm.
The smart thing to do would be to back veryting down into style guidelines, but I just can't bring myself to it!

Barring those things, how does the grain bill look in terms of balance?

Lets see...

 I still think it is a little hoppy, even given the high gravity, but that is a matter of personal preference.  

 Let us know how it turns out!

Brad

I would use belgain candy sugar.  Great stuff.  I like my beer hoppy also so I like how your hop schedule looks.  

My annual barley wine has about the same OG as that and IBU.  good stuff.

How long are you going to age this?

Don

I'm with Brad on the bitterness. Drop it down to at least 55 IBU. Belgian Strong Ale's aren't known for their bitterness.
Here is a good article on brewing Belgian Ales:
http://hbd.org/trub/articles/belgian_ales.html

I followed the Duvel clone and was pretty happy with the result albiet it finished higher in gravity than I would have liked so it wasn't as dry a finish as Duvel.

Cheers
Mark

Thanks, guys.
I'm definitely outside my experience here, with this grave a wort. The hop additions were originally half what you see. I started looking at BU:GU and terminal gravity estimates, and I just got worried I would end up with a syrupy sweet and heavy drink.

Thanks for the link. Seems Belgian Strongs have a fairly high TG anyway. I should back down on the IBU's. (I do like hoppy IPA's, but I don't want to hop this one just for the hop of it.) Maybe around 50:100 (~65 IBU).
I think I'll take the flaked down to .75%, and up the Cara-M and Cara-V .25# ea.

As for the sugar, I'm just going to be making my own with table sugar and some acid. This thing will already cost an arm and a leg, and I'm thinking in this big of a beer, a couple pounds will have little effect on flavor, but a bit more on body; help lighten things up a bit.

Just some thoughts, don't know if they're valid or not...

The percentage of caramel malts looks okay for a "normal" beer. But keep in mind you'll get plenty of mouthfeel and color from the huge grain bill and wort caramelization. Mmmm... thick beer (drool)

Also, my limited experience with aromatic malts is that a little goes a long way. If it were me, I'd go with only 5 to 8%.

Be careful with the cloves. I made a clove porter a long time ago, and even after a year it was almost undrinkable.

Give it plenty of headspace. Consider splitting the batch and fermenting in (2) six gallon carboys. Even then, put the fermenters in a bathtub or near a basement drain.

Good luck, and be sure to save some. I bet it will improve over the next several years.

Thanks MD.
The recipe has changed quite a bit due to this thread. I've cleaned up the grain bill a bit, more subtlety, and the IBU's are around 55 or so.
I appreciate the responses very much. The problem with the thing is that I won't be able to see how it came out for a freakin' year!
I'm going to bottle about a gallon after it's done fermenting, and bulk condition the rest, so at least I'll get a sense of what's going on. I'm sure it will change dramatically in the 6mo storage. Then I'll bottle it up and set it in the cellar for another 4mo before I start cracking into it.

Thanks again, everyone. ;D

This reply may be late, but is your mash profile.  With this recipe, and being a Belgian, adjust your mash profile to maximize your fermentability.  If you do this you can make a big beer (1.128) without that cloying sweetness.  

I normally like a maltier beer, but the Sazz hops I think are a great choice with this beer,  With the Saaz I think you can do the 100 (94) IBU without being overly bitter, with another hop, not so.  If you drop the gravity, you will need to drop the hops as well.

Fred