First APA Session Beer Help

I am a n00b shooting for an APA that is more of a session beer and not too bitter. My goal is to ease a few of my friends to the realm of "better beer".
My max boil size is ~3 gallons.

- How's the Hop schedule look?
- I want to avoid an overpowering hop aroma.
- How Long in the Secondary?
- Is LME the same as PME?
thanks

1.00 lbLight Dry Extract (8.0 SRM)Dry Extract11.98 %
6.60 lbPale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)Extract79.04 %
0.50 lbCaramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)Grain5.99 %
0.25 lbCara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)Grain2.99 %
1.00 ozPearle [8.30 %] (60 min)Hops19.6 IBU
0.50 ozCascade [5.90 %] (30 min)Hops5.4 IBU
0.50 ozCascade [5.90 %] (15 min)Hops3.5 IBU
1.00 tspIrish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)
1 Activator Pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.060 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.92 %
28.5 IBU
10.1 SRM

5.9% ABV seems rather strong...I tend to think of session beers as being below 4%.

If you did a late extract addition, such as adding the LME with 15 minutes left in the boil, you could get away with using half the bittering hops and still achieve about the same IBUs. It also helps prevent caramelization and the associated darkening. Not mandatory by any means, just a thought.

thx...so the DME still goes in at the start of the boil, and the LME in the last 15.min.
I reduce the pearle addition to .5oz
What would be the affect of leaving out the DME all togehter other than lowering the ABV to about 5.02?
Will changing the last addition of Cascade from 15-minute to flame-out make for a less pronounced hop aroma/flavor?

Moving your Cascades from 15 minutes to flame out will result in their contribution being entirely aroma without any flavor. At 15 minutes one generally expects to get slight aroma and significant flavor from them.

My understanding is that you need at least some sugar in the water, to give the compounds in the hops something to bind to. (Or some other molecular level thing that I don't fully grasp! ) I might be inclined to increase the DME by a pound, and just go with 3.3 lbs of LME. (I assume the 6.6lbs means you're using cans?) That would put you around 4.1% ABV, much more "sessionable."

Flame-out hops will give you more aroma, very little flavor and virtually no bitterness. I know some guys who put hops and hot water in a French coffee press and add it to their IPA, post-boil.

I personally can't get enough beer with massive late kettle additions (15 minutes or so). I just did an ESB with 3 ounces of fuggles @ 15 and it is amazing. Might be something interesting and very craft-brew to ween your friends off of CMB.