Bittering a Russian Imperial Stout?

Hey guys--

I am about to brew a Russian Imperial Stout--it's basically going to be this recipe (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/russian-imperial-stout-2011-hbt-competition-category-winner-238807/), though with a few minor modifications based on what was available at my LHBS.

One question is whether I can/should use Summit hops (18.5% AA, and I have both pellet and whole-leaf around) for bittering. Unfortunately, I don't have Challenger or anything else that is relatively "clean," or even English, available, except Goldings. My hope was that if I use the Summit only for bittering--e.g. 1.5oz at 60 minutes--the somewhat harsher and resinous character won't come through, and basically only the bitterness will be left. What do you guys think? Other hops I could use: Columbus, Chinook, Meridian, Goldings. I could go the all-Goldings route, but my concern there is that I'd need to use a massive quantity to get the right bittering level. But stylistically that seems probably right, or at least plausible.

Summit would probably be the best choice of what you have available

Yeah, I feel it makes sense in terms of being far and away the highest AA%. I'm just worried that it might wind up with a somewhat harsh bitterness, or that its residual flavor won't mesh with the more English overall profile. Then again, this will be aged for 6 months before drinking, so I doubt the hops (and even the bitterness) will be that prominent when it's done.

well the CTZ & chinook will carry over more flavor than summit, i'm not familiar with meridian, & you already hit the reason for goldings, so that's my justification. lots of beers use summit to bitter so I wouldn't worry about the possibility of a lil residual flavor poking thru the RIS, esp 6 months down the road

I would not be worried about a harsh bitterness in an 11% RIS- you will have so much flavor going on it's not worth worrying about. It's going to be an intense beer regardless.