They Think I'm Mexican Brown Ale (Rebrew)

Origins:
Re brew of a previous Recipe I followed a the Janet's Brown Ale Recipe exactly this time instead of making my own modifications.

Recipe Specifications:

• Batch Size: 5.00 gal
• Boil Size: 6.5  gal
• Predicted OG: 1.066 SG
• Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 12.0 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US -2 °L
• 1.25 lb Crystal 40 Malt - 40 °L
• 1.25 lb Cara-Pils Dextrin Malt -2 °L
• 0.50 lb Chocolate Malt - 350 °L

Total Grain Weight: 16.0 lb

• 3.25 oz. Northern Brewerer [11.4%] Whole Leaf Hops
• 3.00 oz. Cascade Pellet [6.8%] Pellet Hops
• 2.00 oz. Centennial [10.9%] Pellet Hops
• WLP 001California Ale Yeast

Starter Procedure:

     Friday February 22, 2012 I made my starter. The usual procedure and recipe was used to create the starter.  It was placed on a stir plat overnight.

• 100 g DME
• 1/4 tsp Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
• 1 Drop Fermcap-S Foam Inhibitor
• 1000 ml Water

Brew Procedure:
      Saturday February 23, 2012  was brew day, my friend Anthony came over to do an batch with me since neither of us had brewed in a long time. First I calculated how much mash water I needed. total grain weight was 24 lbs. So to calculate mash water I used the following calculation:

16.0 lbs grain x 1.5 qt/lb = 24 qt. x 1/4 gallon/qt = 6

I decided to use a little thinner mash to see if there was any differnce in my brew house efficiency.  I filled the mashtun with 6 gallons of water and began heating it to 165 °F.  After the water reached  what I thought was 165 °F I added the grain and began stirring. After stirring the mash vigorously for a few minutes the temperature had dropped down to 160 °F. This was hotter than I wanted but so I left the insulation jacket off and opened the lid to let some heat escape. This didnt really bring down the heat enough for me so I added some cold water to bring it down.  Unfortunately I added too much so it dropped it to like 148°F.  Hopefully this will not have wrecked my mash I guess Ill see when the beer is done.  The recipe calls for 1 oz Norther Brewer in the mash but I don't think that imparts any hop characteristic to the beer so I just threw it in the 60 minute hop addition.
     After mashing I transferred to the kettle and completed the brew using the following schedule:

Hops/Ingredients Schedule:

Quantity	Ingredient	Boiled For
2.25 oz.	Northern Brewer	Entire 60 Min. boil
1.00 oz.	Northern Brewer	Last 15 min of boil
1 qty	Whirlfloc Tab	Last 15 min of boil
1.50 oz.	Cascade	Last 10 min of boil
1.50 oz.	Cascade	Flame Out
2.00 oz.	Centennial	Dry Hopped

I cooled the wort and pitched the yeast into a 6.5 gallon carboy.

Additional Comments:
 My pre boil volume was low so I ended up with like 4.25 gallons which hopefully will be ok it my hurt the dry hop extraction but it should help the gravity.  Speaking of gravity...

INITIAL WORT GRAVITY: Since its been so long since I brewed I forgot to take an initial gravity reading like a moron.