Experience with Honey Malt in Pale Ales?

[TrojanAnteater]

I recently brewed an IPA using honey malt. Background, the last decade of my life has consisted of drinking dry, light, hoppy as hell So-Cal IPA's from Pizza Port, Alpine, Societe, Ballast etc etc. So those are what my favorite types of beers are. The reason I used honey malt is because Beachwood Brewery, IMO the best brewery in all of Southern California, uses a "kiss" of honey malt in some of their IPA's..... so I wanted to emulate that.

The recipe was:

86% 2-Row
5% Cara-Pils
5% Munich (Light, 8-10L)
4% Honey Malt (25L)

Hops: (6.5 oz total for 2.5 gallon batch)

60 Min - Magnum (38 IBU)
10 Min - Mix Centennial/Simcoe/Citra
5 Min - Same mix of Centennial/Simcoe/Citra
Steep/Whirlpool for 15 min - Amarillo/Centennial/Simcoe/Citra
Dry hop - 2 oz total Amarillo/Simcoe/Citra

Total IBU 101
Mashed at 152-153
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.010-1.012
Yeast: SD Super Yeast

The first taste is cloying sweet, reminding me of the many east coast DIPAs I drank in the mid 2000's. Lots of hop flavors of course, but that sweetness is yuck. CLOYING

Does anyone have experience with Honey Malt? I'm thinking I needed 1-2% max. Also, I'm sampling this after only 1 week of bottle conditioning/carbonating... i know, super early, but I wanted to see how those hops were tasting. This is hopped at a higher rate than the Pliny the Elder clones, is there a chance the hop oils are lending a certain short-lived sweetness to it? Or is 5% too much honey malt to make a dry, hop forward IPA?

 

[natnov]

Different strokes for different folks. I love a little homey malt in my pa our ipa beers. I often use 0.5 lbs in 5 gallon batches and 1 lb in ten gallon batches. To be it it just enough sweetness to balance the hops. I'd gabe to look at my notes and see what percentages mine come out to....

 

[natnov]

Looks like I used 5% 10 gallon batch of the pale ale I have dry hopping now. It's a modified version of an IPA I've made many times....It's quite nice.

 

[Paps]

Mash a bit cooler and you should be able to get it to lower under 1.010
That would help with the sweetness a little.
147-150 ish territory.
Mash a bit longer as well.
-cheers

 

[ChelisHubby]

I use 4 to 6 ounces in Blondes. Describe cloying please.

 

[The_Bishop]

Original post was almost a year ago, folks.

 

[JayDubWill]

I still think this is a relevant thread. Cloying is something that is so sweet it causes nausea. Most use it to describe a dominance of sweet flavors that overpower any other flavors. I'm doing a honey grapefruit pale ale with those new Azacca hops and fresh grapefruit peel to up the flavor. I'm thinking 8% honey malt to the grist should make it stand out but not overpower the grapefruit. I want both flavors to be very upfront, any thoughts?