AHS Pumpkin Ale - question about mash instructions

Hey all!

I'm going to be brewing a mini-mash AHS Pumpkin Ale tomorrow, but as I was reading over the instructions, I had a quick question.

The recipe has 3.5 lbs of grain and calls for it to be mashed in 2 1/2 gallons of water. If my math is correct, this works out to be 2.85 qts of water per pound of grain. However, in reading many other posts regarding partial mashing, everyone seems to use 1 - 2 qts/lb as general rule of thumb. Why such a disrepancy? And, which methodology is better?

Thanks as always,
Andrew Hoffman
Waxahachie, TX

if you got pumpkin in the mash you will want it a bit thinner.

Good point! However, I seem to remember that other AHS recipes which don't have anything other than grain also calls for the 2 1/2 gallons.

Mini-mash kits from AHS uses more water than All Grain.