Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:19 pm
I think the malt bill looks pretty good generally. 4 oz of carapils isn't going to make much of a difference in this batch. (The extract and crystal malt will provide plenty of dextrins). I'd consider subbing about a lb of munich 10L for a lb of the 2 row to get more malt backbone, and boosting the victory to 1/2 lb to cover the missing carapils. Munich and Victory work great together in a pale ale family beer.
Hops -
You have a ton of bittering hops in there, and a ton of aroma hops, but nothing in the middle for hop flavor. The bitterness will be high and one dimensional.
Here's how I suggest you approach changing the balance.
Calculate all these changes in your brewing software. It's best to work backwards in time from flame out back through bittering. This way, you are adding consistent flavor and aroma, then adjust bittering levels at the end to match your target.
Start by moving most of the bittering hops (you have a nice set of citrusy hops there, btw) into a series of blended additions every 5 minutes starting at 0 going until 20. So, that would be 1/3 of an ounce of each of the 3 varietals mixed together and added at 20, 15, 10, 5, and flameout. Blending hops like this really adds depth and hop complexity. This also approaches the continuous hopping regime that DogfishHead uses in their IPA's, too, without you having to sit there adding a pellet at a time through the boil.
Let the SW show you how much bitterness you now get from those late additions.
Then, go back in the software and add enough bittering hops (can be any variety, though more Centennial will be nice here) to hit your target IBU level. I'd personally go for about 80 ibus, which gives a 1:1 BU:GU ratio (ie, bitterness units to gravity units -- essentially the '80" part of 1.080 is the GU. 9:8 is ok, too, but you may be surprised how bitter that really is.
Hope this helps -- I think you are on a good track overall. nice job.
-B'Dawg
BJCP GM3 Judge & Mead
"Lunch Meat. It's an acquired taste....." -- Mylo
