Beer Review- IAPA

It's been two weeks now since my son was born and we are adjusting nicely. But the itch to brew is starting to grow and I'm trying to figure out how and when I'm going to be able to start brewing again. At 8 weeks was the first time I brewed with my daughter, but I'm not going to be waiting that long to brew this time around!
When I do brew again, it will be another batch of this Iowa Pale Ale (or IAPA). As I mentioned before, this beer was the second collaboration with my best friend Jeff, whom I grew up with in Iowa and now lives up here in the Twin Cities.
I have been nervous to brew a pale ale for some reason. I feel like pale ales are the kind of beers that can be great, but at the same time if done poorly can be forgettable or just plain bad. I've had plenty of commercial or brew pub examples that fit that description. I remember reading an article by Jamil Zainasheff where he mentioned that his true test of a brewer is to taste their pale ale because it's simple to brew, but easy to do poorly.
It's been several years since I brewed a pale ale, and I wanted to make one that could be my "house" pale ale. Jeff and I's favorite Pale Ales are Summit EPA and Millstream's Iowa Pale Ale. In my mind, Summit's is a classic American pale ale, with a nice citrusy hop presence, a clean bitterness and a nice caramely-malty sweetness. Millstream's is probably closer to an IPA than a traditional pale ale, heavy on the citrusy hops, crisp and clean with more of a subtle sweetness. We were aiming for something in between and I'm happy that I think we nailed it.
It's rare for me to be this excited about one of my beers right off the bat. I generally really like the beers I brew, but I tend to tweak and over-analyze them. Both Jeff and I agree that the IAPA is excellent and doesn't need tweaking. I would put it in the top five of the beers I've brewed. Onto the review:
IAPA pours a clear gold with a finger of white head. Right away nice aromas of classic Cascade hops, grapefruity, with some nice caramel notes coming through. There's a pleasant citrusy hoppiness at first followed by caramel and malty sweetness. There's a bitterness that gives it a good backbone that balances well with the sweetness. It finishes with a lingering caramel presence and refreshing crispness.

Here's the recipe:
2 lbs Organic 2-Row
1 lb Victory
.75 Org Caramel 60
.25 Org Carapils

4 lbs Org Light DME (2 @ 60, 2 @ 15)
Hops:
.60 Organic Pacific Gem @ 60
1 oz Fuggles @ 30
1 oz Cascade @ 2
1 oz Cascade @ flameout

American 1056 Yeast

More to come...
Salud!
Bearded Brewer