Combining IPA Kits Any recommendations

[Eerrpp]

I have two kits from northern brewer that I need to use because I don't want them sitting on the shelf in the fridge for too much longer. One kit is a bell's two hearted clone, the other is a citra session IPA. Here's a list of the ingredients together. Any recommendations for changes would be great. I'm thinking it might end up like a hopped barley wine it has so much malt extract. I was reading about adding sugar to make it less malty flavored but I don't know if that would be too much going on.?? I'm thinking ABV would be above 12%. I was thinking of using two packets of safale 05.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Steeping grains
1.75 lbs caramel 40

Extracts
15.15 lbs gold malt syrup 4L (LME)
1 lb gold dry malt extract 4L

hops
6 oz centennial hops
3 oz cascade hops
3 oz citra hops

 

[Immocles]

Personally, I would brew them separately. They're both really good on their own. But if time is a factor (I always hated keeping kits lying around as well. A friend of mine has been sitting on three kits for over a year!), I would treat it as a double IPA of sorts. You'll easily be in that 10-12% range. It'll finish high, though. Someone better acquainted with that type of hop schedule can probably chime in for better advice than I can give. Left to my own devices, I would probably follow the 2H hop schedule with centennial in the boil, then toss half of the cascade and Citra in at flame out/hop steep, and use the remaining few ounces of cent plus the other half of the cascade/citra to dry hop.

How big is your kettle? I feel like that amount of extract isn't going to dissolve super great in a small, 5G kettle.

 

[Eerrpp]

I have a 5 gallon pot. The more I’m reading though it seems like too much malt extract for an ipa. It seems closer to a barley wine.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

If you have a five gallon pot, are you brewing using partial boils with late additions?

 

[Eerrpp]

If you have a five gallon pot, are you brewing using partial boils with late additions?

Yes partial boil with late qdditions

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Partial boils end up diluting IBUs and there is a claim of a upper limit (100-ish?) on the IBUs one can get into a volume of wort. The claim appears to be backed by data in a study that was discussed on the Basic Brewing Radio Nov 1 2018 episode (and probably other places I'm not immediately aware of). So you may not be able to get more the 50 or 60 IBUs after "topping off" at the end of the boil.

All yeast have an alcohol tolerance level. Given the amount of LME/DME you listed, it looks like OG is above 100. You may want to find out what the alcohol tolerance level is for US-05.

Table sugar is 100% fermentable, so you can lower the FG by substituting some sugar for some of the DME/LME. How much? "Conventional wisdom" seems comfortable with 10% sugar. Belgian styles use 20% (or more) sugar without the "conventional wisdom" of cidery off flavors.