Summer Ale to IPA Extract Help

Hi All,

I'd like some assistance tweaking an extract recipe. A buddy of mine bought a Brewer's Best Summer Ale extract kit. He never got around to making it and I offered to take it off his hands. Summer Ale's aren't my beer of choice at the moment. If possible, I'd like to turn it into an pseudo IPA. I'd also like to add 1-2% ABV.

I'm fairly new to home brewing and I'd like some opinions on what to add. What would you do in this situation?
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Here is the current ingredient list:
Summer Ale: Pleasant citrus notes comes from the bitter orange and lemon peel. Fermented with premium Safale US-05 dry yeast, this beer finishes clean with lingering flavors of citrus and spice. Crisp and Refeshing.

Fermentables:
3.3 lb. Pilsen LME
1 lb. Wheat DME
1 lb. Pilsen DME

Specialty Grains:
8 oz. Carapils

Spice Pack

Hops (the ingredient list does not mention the specific hops used):
.5 oz. Bittering
.25 oz Flavoring
.25 oz Aroma

Yeast: US-05 dry yeast
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Thanks!
GoleyBrew

Have you tried using any brewing software? I use hopville.com, its pretty easy and this type of program is the best way to to get the results you are hoping for. As far as bumping the ABV up adding 1.5-2 lbs of light DME would do the trick. If you could find out what the type and AA% of the hops that would be best so you could add hops that would compliment the one already in the kit. Cascade, amarillo and/or citra would all probably work well.

Get rid of the safeale 05 and go get some wyeast 1056....much better fermentation and taste. 05 leaves some fruity esters just like the coopers dry yeast....even when fermented in the low 70s.

I'm pretty sure that 05 is just about EXACTLY the same thing as 1056. It's the "chico" strain. If they aren't identical then they are very close and 05 will work great for an IPA.

For your recipe, I'd add a couple pounds of Pale malt extract, douple the bittering addition and at least quadruple the flavor/aroma additions.

Also probably ditch the wheat dme although I suppose you could leave it in.