Need Input on new House Ale

[brennanj11]

I'm planning on brewing a variation of this brew 7 times this year. I've already bought the grain and am preparing to buy the hops in bulk.

I've wanted to create a intensely-late hopped, sessionable pale ale that makes you almost burp hops when you're almost finished your glass.
I've drawn some inspiration from these two recipes/articles on their methods and common ingredients.
Northeast Style IPA and Hop Hands Clone

Some questions
1.The yeast (since it is new);
2.The honey malt (since it was not included in either recipe)
3.The hopping schedule is new to me
4.The IBU calculation (based on whirlpool)

Also please feel free to offer any criticism you'd like.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Grover

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.8 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7.5 gallons
Efficiency: 85% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.049
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 4.84%
IBU (tinseth): 40.98
SRM (morey): 4.06

FERMENTABLES:
6 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (64.9%)
1 lb - Flaked Wheat (10.8%)
1 lb - Rolled Oats (10.8%)
1 lb - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (10.8%)
0.25 lb - Canadian - Honey Malt (2.7%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Columbus, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 27.35
1.5 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 212 °F, IBU: 3.87
1.5 oz - Nelson Sauvin, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 212 °F, IBU: 4.84
1.5 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 212 °F, IBU: 4.92
0.5 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Dry Hop for 12 days
0.5 oz - Nelson Sauvin, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 12 days
0.5 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Dry Hop for 12 days
0.5 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
0.5 oz - Nelson Sauvin, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
0.5 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temp: 151 F

YEAST:
Wyeast - London Ale III 1318
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 73%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 64 - 74 F

 

[TheBigLebrewsk1]

Perhaps this may provide a model of what you are looking for.

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2015/10/softer-juicier-and-uglier-apa.html

 

[2trout]

Just a few observations,

Biermuncher puts honey malt in at least some of his IPA's. See here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=87310

I’m a fan of the slightly sweeter grains, so a fair amount of specialty grains were in order. With 12% Munich, 7% Honey malt (which I love) and 7% of some crystal (60 & 80), I thought I’d have enough residuals to really give some nice body and a malty sweetness.

Ive read just enough to be dangerous, but you've got a pretty aggressive hop schedule for a lower gravity beer. (The session IPA seems to be a pretty difficult thing to nail down.) That in conjunction with the lower mash temp could/should result in a super hoppy brew, maybe to hoppy? Consider raising the mash temp to provide a bit of maltyness to balance those hops?

Also maybe a test brew before investing in a years worth of hops?

 

[brennanj11]

Yes, I think the malty backbone is something I need to balance this out. I'm hoping the late whirlpool hops help smooth out the overall bitterness, but I am now thinking of mashing around 156 to get a decent malt backbone.
Also, this kind of eased my anxiety of using the honey malt, I may take it back up to 5% @#.5.

 

[ong]

I'm not sure I get the Nelson Sauvin with the Simcoe and Centennial -- it seems like a more delicate hop to me.

The Maris Otter seems like it will be completely unnoticeable in there -- maybe just use all 2-row to keep it simple, or at least half Maris?

I don't think you're hopping too aggressively at all. I've done pales/session IPAs with just some 60 min hops and a ton of whirlpool, and I've never had unmanageable hoppiness. I tend to just look at the boil additions when planning IBUs, since the whirlpool additions don't seem to add much bitterness to my taste (a ton of flavor and aroma, though).

 

[Singletrack]

I suggest you pay double attention to @ong comments above. Good advice.

 

[brennanj11]

I'm not sure I get the Nelson Sauvin with the Simcoe and Centennial -- it seems like a more delicate hop to me.
.

You're saying that Nelson gets overpowered by Simcoe and Centennial in these amounts? I get that it's an expensive hop, but I figured I was hoping for a combination of piney citrus floral berry flavors, with no distinct standout in flavor.

Also the maris is just cause I have it laying it around. I may take the opportunity to omit throughout the 7 batches.

 

[ong]

You're saying that Nelson gets overpowered by Simcoe and Centennial in these amounts? I get that it's an expensive hop, but I figured I was hoping for a combination of piney citrus floral berry flavors, with no distinct standout in flavor.

Also the maris is just cause I have it laying it around. I may take the opportunity to omit throughout the 7 batches.

Yeah, just not sure you'll really taste the Nelson. I don't think it will cause a problem or taste bad or anything, though, so if you want to try it out, go ahead!

Re: the Maris, I just think it's a good idea to simplify grain bills, both to make life easier, and so that you'll know where different flavor contributions are actually coming from. E.g., that's how I discovered I really didn't like what crystal malt was doing to my beers, and starting omitting it from all but select recipes (like bitters and ambers, where it's clearly important).

 

[brennanj11]

For me the more important part is planning how to incorporate the ingredients I'll have in my set amount of groceries .
For example: I was gonna spread the Nelson out across three batches, mixing it with other flavored hops that sounded good. Instead of featuring it, I just figured blending it would yield a more complex taste and aroma. The flip side of that would introducing too many intense flavors that clash. I'll give it a try going with a definite 3 part mixture and if it clashes I'll feature 60-70% of Nelson with a supporting hop. I figure some hops are complex enough on their own.
After reading the flavor profiles of maris, I figured the same above and could yield some taste with it in combination. But now I'm thinking it won't be enough to contribute the flavors I want. For grocery planning purposes I'll probably save it up and use it all at once in a split batch.

 

[tagz]

Nelson is pretty strong in my experience. I don't think it will be masked by simcoe or centennial. And, it comes across as somewhat sweet to me (Citra is the same), so that might do well in a low gravity beer.