Another Christmas Spice question - Critique

I imagine this is going to get beaten to death the next month or so, but I have been really trying to put together a spiced Christmas Ale that would be ready for Early-Mid December.

Here's what I have so far:

2.5 Gallon Batch size
Estimated OG: 1.061
Estimated IBU: 57.5

3.3lbs Amber LME
1.0lbs Honey (Is this too much honey for a 2.5g batch?)

1.0oz Goldings, BC @ 60min
1.0oz Cascade @ 15min


0.25oz Orange Peel @ 10min
1 cinnamon stick @ 10min
1 tsp powdered ginger @ 10min
1 tsp all spice @ 10min
1 whole clove @ 10min
2 tsp vinalla extract @ 5min


Its the spices I am not sure about! I want to make sure I get both the quantities and pitching times correct for this. I am looking to make the spice noticeable in the beer, but without overwhelming everything else.

This is my first brew using spices so any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

That is WAYYYYY too much on the spice additions. Maybe do like 1/10th at most of those, and maybe for 2 mins in the boil

I made 6g AG batch with 2 oz Clove, 2 oz. nutmeg, 4 oz. cinnamon and it is not too much. In fact, it is excellent. 1.090 OG.

No idea how that translates to what you have done. Just another data point for ya. G'luck.

That is sort of what I based my half batch spice amounts on. Most people seemed to be throwing 1-2 oz of cinnamon, ginger, clove, etc for a 5 gallon batch. I am only using a one teaspoon, which is about 1/15th an ounce.

I am curious as to why a 2 minute boil would impart the flavours less then a 10 minute boil. I am not much of a chef so maybe its just ignorance on my part but I figured the longer the boil, the less the flavours.

I don't worry about it until bottling. You get to taste the beer first and think it over. Also, you are less likely to over do it. I take a sauce pan full of water, boil it and make a tea and add it to the bottling bucket. I can then have a pretty good idea of what it'll do to the beer. Just keep in mind that the flavors of the spices after 3 weeks in the bottle are going to be very unbalanced and need usually well over a month to mellow.

And I wouldn't use vanilla extract. It's much less effective Try whole vanilla beans. Just put a slice in them and steep them, then scrape out the paste from the inside and add it back to the tea.