Brewing Broke Okra APA...er...IPA?

I brewed the first batch of beer on my new cooler MLT, and it was a complete joy.  Batch sparging came back to me like riding a bicycle (a bit wobbly, but got there!), and I believe my efficiency woes may be over.  While my plan was to brew an American pale ale, based on an expected efficiency of around 65%, I ended up well in IPA range with 74% efficiency. The upshot is that my 1.056 APA ended up being a 1.063 IPA. Honestly, I don't think the beer will be so very different, as it was a bit strong for an APA and it's low to middlin' for an IPA, but I'm thrilled that it's once again a snap to get my extract.

Used the stove for my strike water to save on propane. 

One thing I used to hate about batch sparging before was cleaning the mash tun, but that was for 10-gallon batches.  The grist for a 5-gallon batch isn't that heavy. I even moved it around during the mash without much trouble. Dumping the spent grain on the compost heap and spraying it out took less than 5 minutes.

Now, there may be a few other explanations for this high efficiency.  One is that I used double-milled grain meant for a BIAB batch, so I may not be able to expect above 70% with regular milled grain.  That would be fine, as I had a bit of a slow, if not quite stuck, sparge.  Two is that this recipe is for a very pale beer, and the only pale beer I made using the BIAB setup had a similar efficiency.  My water is very soft, so this may be a chemistry issue.  I'm looking forward to brewing a few more times to see if I can get a predictable efficiency from this system.

This is also my first time using a hop stand.  Most of the hops went in at flameout, and then I let them sit for 30 minutes without chilling.  I'm hoping I got some bitterness and good aroma out of that addition, or this may be a fairly boring beer.

UPDATE: I went ahead and dry hopped this with 2 ounces each of Cascade and Chinook. It turned out lovely. Recipe below. Tasting notes here.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Broke Okra APA...er...IPA
Brewer: V.A. Dongarra
Asst Brewer:
Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
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Boil Size: 7.77 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.77 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal 
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.062 SG
Estimated Color: 6.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 51.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 86.3 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU       
5.00 g               Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate)     
2.00 g               Calcium Chloride           
11 lbs               Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)            Grain         4        84.6 %     
1 lbs                 Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)                           Grain         5        7.7 %       
1 lbs                 Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)                         Grain         6        7.7 %       
14 g                  Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min            Hop           7        10.3 IBUs   
14 g                  Chinook [11.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min          Hop           8        21.7 IBUs   
0.50 Items        Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)            Fining        9        -           
43 g                  Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min            Hop           10       6.2 IBUs   
43 g                  Chinook [11.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min          Hop           11       13.0 IBUs   
1.0 pkg             Safale American  (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)  Yeast         12       -           
56 g                  Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7 Days        Hop           13       0.0 IBUs   
56 g                  Chinook [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7 Days     Hop           14       0.0 IBUs   


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs
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Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time   
Mash In           Add 4.6 gal of water at 162.4 F         152.0 F       60 min     

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.13gal, 4.14gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
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Decided to move all of the late hops to the end for a hop stand.  Just to see.  Dropped in everything but the first addition at flameout, propped the lid on-ish (tilted up to let steam out and bugs in, I guess, and set a timer for 25 minutes to see how this works. Stirred once about half way through to get a whirlpool rolling.

Used double crushed grain meant for BIAB in my new cooler MLT.  First runnings were 4 gallons of 1.070. Second runnings were 3.5 gallons of 1.030.  Ended up getting 1.046 starting runnings, which was about what my OG was supposed to be.  Calculated at 65%, but got around 73% efficiency.  Just going to go from calling it an APA and call it an IPA.  Hope there are enough hops in there!

Dry hopped onto a gigantic, clean looking krausen at 4 days into fermentation.  Left it for the remaining time. Cold crashed after 12 days, kegged right at two weeks from brew day.

Fined with 1/2 tsp of gelatin, came out crystal, read-the-paper-though-it clear.

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
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