Chinook and EKG combo ?

I will be brewing a winter warmer next week based on an Amber recipe a friend of mine gave me. I tried it before and it was a good all around amber and I've made some modifications. You can see the recipe at hopville Chinook amber Ale.

The reasoning behind Chinook is that this is a big winter warmer and I don't want to use spices. I've yet to have a spiced Christmas offering where the spices are really necessary: they're nice, but I always feel the beer would be better without them. So I want that piney/spicy stuff that Chinook has, but subdued and not in your face. I also don't want any grapefruit/orange/citrus in there, so I went with the EKG flavour addition instead of the traditional Cascade pairing for an earthier flavour. I'm going for a fireplace sipper that is still balanced, but more towards the caramel than the hops. Also planning on doing a long low mash (90min-149F) so i don't end up with an overly sweet beer due to the big caramel malts and overall high OG. 1.015-1.018 is my goal for final gravity.

Any comments about the overall recipe ? I'm wary about the Chinook because of all the reports of its cloying nature in large quantities.

I've seen a few beers that use EKG and Chinook, though the latter was used only as a dry hop. With all that Chinook, I don't think you'll get any discernible flavor out of the EKG. It's a very delicate flavor/aroma and won't stand up to the strong Chinook character; which in large quantities can give the beer a really nasty catty quality. I stopped using Chinook a few years ago for that reason.

Don't waste the EKG by mixing it with Chinook. My .02: either bitter with something like Challenger or use an American hop to follow the Chinook.

Okay, I'll probably go all EKG or use something neutral such as Galena or Challenger for the bittering addition and use EKG for flavour and aroma.