My thoughts work fine here. I like using enough dark malts along with Munich so I can mix 50/50 RO/ house filtered liquor that has an alkalinity of 200 ppm. I've found that mashing at a pH of 5.5-5.6 brings these beers together faster. My 1.050 stouts and porters are good at the 4-6 week mark, where the ones I've made the had 5.0 - 5.2 took 12 weeks to mellow out. I put my RIS's in a barrel for 8 mos ,bottle condition for 3 mos and enjoy on Black Friday.
Mashing at 148*-150* for 1 hr then step (I add boiling liquor) to 162* for 1 hr brings my 1.020+ (one time 1.134) down to 1.020 with a masive pitch of Notty. I always make a British Bitter or Blond at 1.038 as a 5 gal starter I can drink and pitch on top of that.
Building a recipe is personal but procedure is key.