Tropical IPA help

[jeremymgood]

I've brewed a couple of IPAs so far, but I'm still trying to get the hang of building a good recipe, especially the hop schedule. I've had Crux Fermentation Project's Cast Out which uses Galaxy hops which I really enjoyed. My goal for an IPA is to have a beer that is very flavorful with fruit and citrus notes with only moderate bitterness. I like a slightly sweet malt body that balances the hoppiness of the beer. I don't like IPAs that I can't taste any malt. So, here's my attempt at creating an IPA that fills those specifications.

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 5.4 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 2 5.4 %
4.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.7 %
8 lbs Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 4 86.5 %
1.25 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 40.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 6.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 7 1.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 8 2.2 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) [124.21 ml] Yeast 9 -
3.00 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.20 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 12 0.0 IBUs

Est Original Gravity: 1.059 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.8 %
Bitterness: 50.5 IBUs
Est Color: 10.1 SRM


Thoughts and comments are appreciated.

 

[bkboiler]

my two cents would be that your starting and final gravity is probably more like a "pale ale" which would be between an IPA and a session IPA.
Your 10 SRM is more like a british brown ale.
I'd refer to the below recipe as an example for the malt bill. He starts with extra light extract and in my experience thats the way to go...anything darker than "light" is gonna give a very sweet beer if thats the main fermentable. Also, you can add it very near the end of the boil to save time and not have the beer get too dark.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=303478
The only thing I'd change in your hop bill is maybe using Galaxy instead of Citra. Citra is aptly named for its citrus dominant notes (although it also has tropical notes too).

 

[jeremymgood]

Thanks for the comments. I'll switch the pale extract for pilsner extract. I also think your idea of switching out the citra for more galaxy is probably a good one. I want to let the galaxy hops shine in this beer. Regarding the style, I prefer sessionable IPAs over heavy doubles and triples. In beersmith, I used the American IPA style guide and it shows that the recipe is in the lower end of acceptable range for gravity. I'm OK with this.

 

[bkboiler]

how'd the beer turn out?

 

[jeremymgood]

I just racked to secondary and added dry hops yesterday. So far so good.

 

[bkboiler]

nice! would love to see a pic of the pint or tasting notes when u tap the keg or crack the first beer

 

[jeremymgood]

After I added the dry hops it got very very cloudy. I racked it after ten days of dry hopping (I know that was probably too much time). It's still very cloudy. I plan to rack it one more time before bottling. I would cold crash it, but I don't have a refrigerator to hold it.