(Imperial?) Kolsch Recipe

I'm planning to put in a big order with Northern Brewer either today or tomorrow, so I was hoping for a bit of feedback on a recipe I've been concocting.

I'm just getting into partial mashing after doing extract for a while. This will be among my first (though I plan to do a Northern Brewer partial mash kit as my crash course), and, of course, I will more-or-less be following Deathbrewer's tutorial.

Anyway, I want to create a Kolsch-style recipe with a lot of really spicy German noble hops. Here's what I've come up with:

OG: 1.063
FG: 1.016
ABV: 6.3%
Color: 7L
IBUs: 49.2

6 lbs German Kolsch Malt
1 lb American Wheat
3 lbs Munton's Plain Light DME

Going to attempt to mash my 7 lbs of grains in a 3 gallon stainless steel kettle as Green Bay Rackers tells me it will take up 2.75 gallons total at a mash thickness of 1.25 qt/lb. I figure minimizing headspace will help towards my overall efficiency. Then I will sparge in my 5 gallon brew kettle with another 2 gallons of water, boil, and top up to 5 gallons.

All hops are pellets. (I may cut an ounce from flavoring/aroma to lower the IBUs to mid 30s.)

60 mins 1.0oz Hallertau
60 mins 1.0oz Saaz
15 mins 0.5oz Hallertau
15 mins 0.5oz Saaz
15 mins 0.5oz Tettnanger
5 mins 0.5oz Hallertau
5 mins 0.5oz Saaz
5 mins 0.5oz Tettnanger

White Labs German Ale/Kolsch Yeast WLP029. Probably 3-4 weeks in primary before bottle conditioning -- maybe 1-2 weeks in secondary if I feel like it (a Kolsch could probably use the time clearing?)

Any thoughts/critiques/telling me I'm an idiot are more than welcome. Again, this is going to be among my first partial mashes, so the more help and tips the better.

Also, I assume with liquid yeast a starter is necessary? Especially in a lighter style, will I want less yeast production for fewer esters/byproducts?

Thanks!

So how did this beer turn out? I've made something similar from All Grain

It ended up being a very nice beer. One of the best I've brewed to date, though I'm not sure it would come anywhere near the BJCP guidelines for a Kolsch. I brewed this on 4/6 and I still have a few bottles around. It has a dominant German hop profile with just enough crisp maltiness to back it up. I ended up brewing with 4 lbs German Pilsner, 2 lbs German Kolsch, and 1 lb white wheat as I discovered Kolsch isn't usually used as a base malt as far as I know. I also slightly changed my hop schedule to:

60 min: 1 oz Hallertau, 1 oz Saaz
15 min: 0.5 oz Saaz, 0.5 oz Tettnanger
5 min: 0.5 oz Saaz, 0.5 oz Tettnanger

I missed my estimated OG and ended up with .055 and a final of .010. I would also say that the SRM is more like 10 or 11L, but it's still a fantastic beer.

What I would do differently if (and when) I brew this again:
1. Change my 3 lbs DME to 6 lbs LME and add it as a late addition. I added my DME 1.5 lbs at 60 mins and 1.5 lbs at 15 mins, which I assume would account for the slightly darker color. If I brewed again I would add more extract at about 15 mins to keep it lighter and add more malt to balance the hops.

2. I would probably go for the higher IBUs and add more hops. I would also probably even dry hop it with 1 or 2 ounces.

I wanted to create something like a noble-hop IPA with the body of a Kolsch, while still having enough malt to balance the hops. I believe I achieved that with this batch, but I'd like to bump it up for the next one and see how much hoppier I can make it (I love my hops :cross: ).