Brewing Koelsch Partial Mash on Monday

I am going to brew a Koelsch on Monday with my cousin and fellow homebrewer who is home from the airforce. This is going to be my first partial mash and the occasion is kinda special so I want to make sure I cover all my bases.

First, here is the recipe I have that i have from the boards that i have edited down a bit (any suggestions or creative editing is welcome):

6.6 lbs. pale LME
3 lb. German pilsner malt
1/4 lb. German Melanoidin malt
1/4 lb german wheat
1 1/2 oz. Hallertauer hops 45 min
1/2 oz. Hallertauer hops 15 min
wyeast 2565 kolsch
1 tsp yeast food
1 tsp irish moss

2nd, as I said, I wanted to try to make this recipe as my first partial mash brew. I was going to use the easy partial mash thread posted in the beginning brew forum as a guide. Going through it, he uses about 2 gallons of strike water for 5 or 6 lbs of grain. My recipe calls for only 3.5 lbs of grain. Should I just halve the amount of strike water needed or just keep it at the 2 gallons? Also, after mashing, do I just combine both pots of wort into one?

Lastly, after christmas i will have a 6 gallon pot that someone got me as a gift. After mashing, I assume I should be able to do a full boil (or at least close to it). If not, say I am only able to boil 4 gallons and have to top off to 5 in the fermenter, how would I be able to calculate the actual amount of hops needed for a more accurate / acceptable IBU ratio?

Can't think of anything right now, but it's been a few months since i've been able to brew so I am kinda rusty. If anyone reading this has any suggestions for me, please let me know. I greatly appreciate any help! THANKS ALL!

I don't have all your answers, but I'll chime in with a few.

I believe the accepted standard for water:grain is 1.25 quarts to lbs.

Handy calculator for all sorts of mash thingies: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

As for calculating hops with partial boils, I think most brewing calculators like Beersmith/Beer Alchemy can account for mash gravity and how that affects IBUs.

Hope that helps a little!

it does, thank you! i completely forgot i bought beersmith a while back >,< which should help big time

Anyways, the water:grain ratio definitely helps out, however it doesnt add up to what DeathBrewer does. Then again, it may just be a case of to each his own in this instance.

Yeah, I don't think the ratio is a hard and fast rule, and really, 2 gals for 6 lbs is pretty close to that anyway. So anywhere in there and I'm sure you'll be in good shape!