Projected IPA color too dark, help lower color?

I have just built an Imperial IPA recipe with the BeerSmith software.
the ingredient list is as follows:

Type : All Grain
Batch Size (fermenter) : 5gal
Boil Size : 3.67gal
Boil Time : 60min
Fermentation : Ale 3 stage

Grain:
Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) - 5lbs
Munich Malt (20.0 SRM) - 5lbs
Aromatic Malt 20L (20.0 SRM) - 2lbs
Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) - 1lbs
Cara-Pils / Dextrine (2.0 SRM) - 2lbs

Hops: (boil)
Liberty 4.3% - 2oz
Motuera 7% - 2oz
Pilot 11.5% - 2oz
Saaz 4% - 2oz

Hops: (Dry hopping)
Motuera 7% - 2oz
Saaz 4% - 1oz

Misc:
Amylase Enzyme - 1.5tsp
Gypsum - 1tsp
Irish Moss - 1.5tsp
Malto-Dextrine - 8oz
Oak Chips (secondary ferment) - 4oz
Polyclar - .25oz
Yeast nutrient - 2tsp
Dememera Sugar - .5lbs
Honey - .5lbs

Yeast:
Abbey IV Ale Yeast (whitelabs #wlp540) [50.28ml] - 2packages

Bottle prime with Corn sugar

Est. original gravity is around 1.084
Bitterness is around 98.1
Est ABV is at 9.4
all exactly where i want it. The only thing that is off is my color.
It is estimated at 23.0 SRM... my goal is to get it somewhere between 8 and 15 SRM... without messing with the ingredients too much.
Any help tweaking it to get a lower color would be greatly appreciated.

Not possible with that grain bill. If you want a lower SRM value, you need to replace some of your darker malts with lighter malts; no other way around it.

That being said, unless your entering this in a strict competition (which would be odd with the yeast used) why does color matter so much?

Well, you're going to want to replace some of that aromatic with a base malt. 2 lbs is a hell of a lot for a 5 gal. batch... at 13%. 2lbs of carapils is also overkill. I'd replace some of that biscuit with 2-row as well. That will get your color down.

This will get you to 14 SRM


37% 5 8 American Two-row Pale
33% 5 0 Munich Malt
13% 2 0 Biscuit Malt
7% 1 0 Victory Malt
7% 1 0 Cara-Pils/Dextrine
3% 0 8 Belgian Aromatic

Five pounds of biscuit malt is a bit much. Also, munich malt needs help from a malt with stronger diastic power. you're not going to like it but here's my suggestion for your 5 gallon batch to reach approximately the same original gravity and actually meeting the style guidelines for an imperial ipa:

biscuit malt 0.5
munich malt 0.5
aromatic malt 0.25
victory malt 0.25
carapils 0.25
pale ale malt 13.25

just my two cents but I think that much munich is a ton for an IPA.

Plus... why use an Abby Ale Yeast? Are you specifically trying to make a "Belgian IPA"? That yeast will give you a very distinct Belgian style flavor.

... and then oak chips??

I have a 10.5% IPA that I'm kegging tonight and for that I only used about 5% Munich I, 5% Crystal 15 and 2.5% Biscuit.

thanks for the help.. i will have to re-work the recipie.
I'll repost it when i get it all figured out.

^^^What Cape said.

2 lbs of crystal is an awful lot, too. Especially when combined with all the other non-pale malts, you are pretty much going for a hoppy amber or something.

I've seen several recipes for Belgium imperial ipa.. I've tasted this additive.. It does give it a nice nose.. Just a hint of that old world taste.