Joe:
With extract you can certainly use a partial boil method as you describe, I would up your hops by 10-12% just to be sure you have enough bitterness, as the concentrated boil will reduce your hop utilization. Then I’d add enough water to get to what ever you are comfortable with in your fermentor. I would think about final gravity though. My recipe is for 6.5 gallons in the kettle, of which 5.5 makes it into the fermentor. So if you use the same extract amounts in only 5.5 gallons total your starting gravity will be ~20% more than mine. So you may need to calculate out some of the base extract to not have to high a starting OG. If that does’t make sense, email use through the contact page and I’ll give you a more detailed look at it.

Andrew:
Two months is not necessary to have good drinkable beer. You can go ahead and brew and bottle when you normally would. I’d suggest holding a couple bottles and trying them in February, then you’ll see how the flavors really marry and blend over time. But I have pushed this beer through rather quickly in the past and it’ll be great either way.

Yes, at 30 minutes into the boil (60 minutes to go until the end) add in the 1 oz of Nugget Hops.

1. This recipe is as is for the past several years. The only mods is that I don’t steep the wood really. The soak in bourbon seems to sanitize the wood just fine.
2. See point 1… I am very happy with this recipe and I do not have plans to modify it.
3. The spice levels are balanced enough to give you a spiced essence, but the beer still tastes like beer. The spice levels vary in other recipes if they are added to the boil. Boiling requires higher levels of spice to be able to taste them.
4. The OG seems low for what??? I don’t brew for ABV. ABV is a consequence of the recipe. And in my book it should never be the other way around. Another way to put it is… I want to brew beer that tastes good first. I’ll drink more of it if I need to get drunk. I’d rather drink 4 of these than one 12% monster of a beer. (If the recipe was to start at 1.060 and finish at 1.012 that would be 6.3%ABV.)

Good luck with the recipe!

1) Since this posting, have you made any modifications?
2) Are you happy with this recipe or feel it is still a work in progress?
3) There is no little cinnamon and nutmeg for such a large volume of beer, do the flavors come out that noticeably?
4)What do you finish out as % alcohol wise? 1.060-1.065 seems bit low for OG, but I have no idea what the addition of bourbon does to the final product.

Thanks!