Improving the malt flavor of an IPA

Beer Recipes
1

I am on a mission to brew a decent IPA.  It’s a delicious yet slightly frustrating mission.  After a few iterations, I think I have the hop profile at a good point.  However, the beer needs to be a little maltier and more complex.  The hop aroma and flavor are solid, but I think a more interesting malt profile is needed to balance the bitterness.

The original recipe is: 
11 lbs                Pale Malt - 2 Row (Rahr) (1.7 SRM)         
1 lbs                Vienna Malt (Briess) (3.5 SRM)               
8.0 oz                Caramunich II (Weyermann) (63.0 SRM)       
0.50 oz              Centennial [10.30 %] - First Wort
0.50 oz              Magnum [12.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min             
0.50 oz              Cascade [6.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min       
0.50 oz              Centennial [10.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min             
1.00 oz              Amarillo [8.40 %] - Steep/Whirlpool      10.0 min
1.00 oz              Simcoe [12.10 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  10.0 min   
0.50 oz              Cascade [6.40 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  10.0 min           
1.0 pkg              American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272)   
1.00 oz              Amarillo [8.40 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days       
1.00 oz              Simcoe [12.10 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days

I am considering reducing two pounds of the 2 Row and replacing it with two pounds of Munich malt.  The rest of the recipe would stay the same.  Does this seem like a reasonable approach?

Thanks for the help.

2

My IPA grist came from thoughts on here, maybe erockrph(?) it’s 75%2row, 20% Munich, and 5% Victory. I love it, so I think the Munich you mention will help

3

You could also try replacing your base malt with Maris Otter, or replace a huge percentage of it with Vienna or red wheat malt.  That would add lots of flavor.  Sometimes the solution is not addition of specialty malts but rather replacement of base malt with another base malt.

4

+1. Mine is very similar. Good IPA grist.

5

I like Maris Otter most of the time, although I do brew a double IPA using pilsner, Munich and Vienna malts that is quite good.  Personally, I haven’t been real impressed with North American malts, just sayin’.

6

Curious to know what temp  you are mashing at as that can change the malt profile as well, maybe try mashing a little higher.

7

I mashed at 152F that last time I brewed this beer.  I was reluctant to mash higher because I wanted a relatively crisp, dry finish.  Last time it finished at 1.008.  I could probably get away with mashing at 154 or 155F.

8

Yeah, that sounds about right.

To the OP, if you’re happy with the overall flavor profile but just want to dial up the malt a bit, then my secret ingredient is to add a touch of Aromatic. It just turns the volume up on the malt by a notch or two. 8-12 oz in five gallons would be about right.

9

+1 to adding some aromatic, it really does accentuate the malt, I would also consider bumping up the mash temp and try to get a bit higher FG

10

Like others have said, replacing some of the 2-row with marris otter works great for ipas. I like around 14% of malt bill as marris otter. Throwing in wheat malt (around 5% of malt bill) and crystal 10 or 15 (5-8% malt bill) should help bring out a malt back bone.