Thoughts on my APA that turned into an IPA?

So yesterday I ended up brewing about 9 gallons of what I anticipated being an APA. I ran into a couple of issues that were unforeseen. My grain bill ended up being close to 25lbs, the most grain I’ve ever used. When I sparged, I could only sparge 6 gallons rather than the close to 8 gallons that was called for. So what was initially an APA turns out to be a light IPA.

I ended up striking with 7.4 gallons (water initially into the grain mash tun), and sparged with 6 gallons for a total 13.4 gallons of water. I ended up getting 10.85 gallons of wort runoff, giving me a total of about 9-9.25 gallons of wort after the boil. Since I was shooting for a 10 gallon batch, the numbers ended up changing…giving me a much higher alcohol content, a higher IBU (bitterness), and a darker beer overall.

Here are the differences:

Planned SRM: 8.5

Actual SRM: 9.2

Planned ABV: 5.7%

Actual ABV: ~6.4%

Planned IBU: 49

Actual IBU: 52
A peTit APA
Batch size 9 gallons
Boil size 11.1 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 24.45 pounds
Efficiency 70%

Original gravity 1.065
Final gravity 1.011
Alcohol (by volume) 7.1% (with a FG of 1.010)
Bitterness (IBU) 52
Color (SRM) 9.2°L
Yeast - (washed yeast) Safale US-05

Grains/Extracts/Sugars
24.45 pounds
2 Row Base, 28ppg, 1.5°L - 10 pounds, 40.9%
Pale Ale, 38ppg, 2.5°L -10 pounds 40.9%
Munich (Light), 34ppg, 8.5°L - 2 pounds 8.2%
Crystal 40L, 34ppg, 40°L - 0.75 pounds 3.1%
Honey, 30ppg, 20°L - 0.72 pounds 2.9%
CaraPils, 33ppg, 1.5°L - 0.68 pounds 2.8%
Crystal 80L, 34ppg, 85°L - 0.3 pounds 1.2%

Mash

Strike Target 152°F 7.4 gallons
Sparge Target 170°F 6 gallons

Chinook hops
11.4%, Pellet 1 ounces
Cascade hops
6.3%, Pellet 0.5 ounces
Boil
60 minutes, 11.1 gallons
Chinook hops, 11.4%, Pellet - 0.9 ounces 60 minutes
Chinook hops, 11.4%, Pellet - 0.5 ounces 20 minutes
Cascade hops, 6.3%, Pellet - 0.5 ounces 20 minutes
Cascade hops, 6.3%, Pellet - 1.5 ounces 15 minutes
Irish moss, 15 minutes
Cascade hops, 6.3%, Pellet - 0.7 ounces 10 minutes

Ferment
14 days @ 61-66 degrees

Dry Hop with 3 ounces of Cascade hops for 7 days

I hit 1.052 before the boil and 1.064 after the boil...

Any thoughts on the recipe or anything?

1.064 at 53 IBU is a good balance. It's not a real strong IPA but a good one. You could water it down to a APA of you want to.

I think all your numbers are within the method error. If you are looking for 1.065 and get 1.064, that is right on. That is like half the meniscus. 9.2 SRM vs. 8.5 is a meaningless difference, as that scale is completely wacked out over like 5. 52 vs. 49 IBUs is basically the same too, these calculations and equations are not that exact. The original recipe seems closer to an IPA anyway than an APA. It is a long fuzzy area between the two. But a commercial brewery would have no problem calling that an IPA.