Apollo IPA thoughts

I bought 4 ounces of Apollo hops on a whim. I considered a SMaSH, but I think I like a little more complexity in the malt bill for an IPA. So, anyone care to comment on the following?

11# pale malt
4# vienna
2.5# carastan
.5# honey malt
.1# chocolate

apollo pellet hops - 18.9%AA
.5oz apollo @60min
.5oz apollo @30min
1oz apollo @10 min
2oz apollo @0 min (hopback if I can get it working)

Pacman yeast with appropriate starter

Mash at 155F for 60 min.

Stats (estimates)
1.071 OSG
1.020 FSG
6.5% ABV
63.5 IBU
14.7 SRM
320 calories/pint (ouch)


Comments - no dry-hopping. I haven't really been happy with dry-hopping using pellets which these puppies are. I'm not sure if you can even get Apollo hops in leaf form. As much as I love dry-hopping with Amarillo, I don't want to hide the Apollo flavor. I'm hoping that the hop-back will supply enough flavor and aroma to make up for the lack of dry-hops.

too much crystal for my liking, that is the cara malt. Typically I try to keep my IPA's on the drier side at closer to 1.012-1.016 range. That would take the crystal to 5% or so. Other than that it looks like beer, good luck. Be sure to dry hop for that hop punch in the face.