Recipe Help: Pale Ale with Special B

Hello,

I've brewed about 5 batches, mostly kits, so I'm looking for suggestions from more experienced brewers.

I want to make a Pale Ale with Special B instead of Crystal. I want about 6-7% abv and 35-40 bitterness. I am trying to use ingredients I have on hand. I am looking mostly for advice on hop schedule and amounts. I have 2 oz East Kent Goldings, 2 oz Challenger, 2 oz US Hallertau, and a bunch of Chinook.

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 3 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.121
Efficiency: 35% (steeping grains only)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.066
Final Gravity: 1.018
ABV (standard): 6.24%
IBU (tinseth): 37.5
SRM (morey): 8.96

FERMENTABLES:
8 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Pilsen (88.9%)
0.5 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Wheat (5.6%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
0.5 lb - Belgian - Special B (5.6%)

HOPS:
1.5 oz - Challenger, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.2, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 19.72
1 oz - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.9, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 10.77
0.5 oz - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.9, Use: Aroma for 15 min, IBU: 2.67
0.5 oz - Challenger, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.2, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 3.26
0.5 oz - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.9, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 1.07

That looks like a very bitter pale. And did you want to make an English Pale or American style?

For the English, I would move that 1oz of Kent at 60 among the late additions, later the better.

You can also steep that Special B for a full hour to make sure you get as much out of it as you can.

Thanks for your response. To be honest, I don't really know the difference but I'm also not too concerned about being true to style. The hops are probably more suited for English, but I really keep SNPA in mind when I think pale ale.

Would you recommend EKG only for flavor, or a mix?

You could bitter with chinnok or challenger trying to get around 30-40ish IBU. And keep it english with the goldings and hallertau flavor/aroma,with mostly goldings. Chinook would dominate the nice rounded character of goldings if Chinook was used later. Unless you wanted american pale ale then use all chinnok and challenger maybe a small amount of hallertau/goldings in there. I kind of liked challenger the one or two times I used it,it is somewhat mild though kinda fruity if I remember right.

EKG is one of those hops that always has a place. Use straight EKG on the late additions for an English feel. But blended with some juicy American hops for an APA is always tasty.

I can't think of many beer styles where some amount of EKG isn't warranted.