Christmas Ale C&Cs please

[marcarm]

Thinking about getting my Xmas ale on this weekend so it has plenty of time to condition before trying and was looking for some C&Cs or advice please.

25l batch size

4.00 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 88.5 %
0.20 kg Amber Malt (43.3 EBC) Grain 2 4.4 %
0.15 kg Wheat, Torrified (3.3 EBC) Grain 4 2.7 %
0.20 kg Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC) Grain 3 4.4 %
25.00 g Challenger [7.50 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 5 20.6 IBUs
15.00 g Challenger [7.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 5.7 IBUs
6.60 g Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 -
20.00 g Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 9 -
1 Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 12 -
5.00 g Nutmeg (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 10 -
1.00 Items Clove (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 11 -
1.00 tbsp Ginger Root (Boil 5.0 mins) Herb 8 -

Est Original Gravity: 1.045 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.6 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 26.3 IBUs
Est Color: 31.4 EBC

Most of the ingredients have been chosen as they are what I have already. Yeast will be from a local brewery.

Are the spices too much or not enough? I want them to be there but not overpowering.

Edit: no star anise as I find aniseed/liquorice disgusting

[Barley Water]

Well I'm no expert when it comes to spices (screwed up a few beers messing with it in the past actually) but right off the top of my head I think I would like double the original starting gravity. One of the things with a Christmas brew is you want some warming and you ain't gonna get that with a 1.045 O.G. beer. Also, it helps to have a buzz on around the holidays in general so you can handle family and the copious spending that goes on that time of year.

[marcarm]

So increase the amount of grain? I can run that through the software to get me the quantities needed, what sort of OG would you say?

[Barley Water]

Oh I don't know, maybe around 1.080 or so. For the last couple of years myself and a couple of the ladies in our brew club have made an Imperial Bourbon Vanilla Robust Porter which we oaked at bit as well and I want to say it was around that neighborhood. If you get too much bigger than that the aging could take a couple of years and really, who has the time or patience for that? I personally like the big, darker brews around the holidays when it's cold. Of course, there are always Bock biers and some of the bigger Belgian brews to consider. The problem with this hobby is that there are so many choices and so little time.