"Potentially" High Gravity Stout Help

Quick question. I brewed a 1.131 OG stout last Thursday evening and it is only down to 1.048 as of this morning. It is bubbling about 1-2 times per minute at this point. Yes, I know that isn't a great indicator of activity. My goal was to get it down to the 1.030's somewhere. Do you think I should get a big starter going of another yeast (WLP099???) while it is still fermenting a bit and then toss it in at high krausen. Or, do you think it's likely that it will continue slowly chugging away and might get there anyway on its own? I was not able to add oxygen during the fermentation b/c I don't have a stone. I did make a starter, but I do not think it was as big as I should have made. Well, it was plenty big enough, but the yeast literally oozed out of the beaker while I stepped away for a few hours. Anyway, any help is appreciated. I only have small window today to go grab some yeast from my supplier.

 

I did use yeast nutrient and obviously can do so again if I were to pitch a big starter. I'm assuming I should do this while it is still slowly fermenting rather than fully crapping out.

 

Well, it appears that White Labs is now saying that 099 could potentially be a diastaticus strain. I don't believe that is what I'm looking for then. I'm going to barrel age this and I'm not looking to introduce that into it at this time. Any other thoughts on high gravity yeasts that I could use to kickstart this fermentation?

 

Bourbon County Brand Stout (clone)
BA Imperial Stout
All-Grain
5 Gallons

1.129 target Original Gravity
1.095 target Pre-Boil Gravity (7.5 gal)
1.031 target Final Gravity
60 IBU
70+ SRM
13% ABV

72% Mash Efficiency Target

Grain Bill:
19 lb 2-Row
6 lb Munich (10L)
1.25 lb caramel/crystal 60L
1.25 lb Chocolate Malt
1.25 lb Roasted Barley
.75 lb Black Printz (Debittered Black Malt)


Hop Bill:
50 IBU Chinook (approx 1.5 oz) at 60 min
10 IBU Chinook (approx 1 oz) at 30 min
1 oz Chinook at flame out

Additional:
.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient at 15 min


I used 1056 and stepped it up three times with the last being a 1.5L starter all on stir plates. But, it overflowed and I lost a ton of straight yeast. Fermentation activity was very quick - half a day at the most. I shook my fermentor for fifteen straight minutes since I didn't have a stone. I have roused the yeast multiple times since then. I was hoping the 1056 would get me to roughly 13%, but I'm worried that 1.048 will be very sweet.

 

155 mash temp for two hours and 68 degrees initially and ramped up to 71 after a few days

 

FWIW, I expect to have about 4.4 gallons when it's finished. So, I boiled a little too long (3 hours +) for what I was going for.

 

Just how sweet is this thing gonna be if it finishes in the upper 1.040's??? I've never brewed a beer that finished so high.

Also, I plan on re-using the yeastcake to make three separate batches of this same base beer. If this is still a drinkable beer even at 1.048, would it be more ideal to not integrate a new yeast into this cake since I plan on pitching onto it as well as barrel aging all three batches?

So many questions .......

 

Yeah, I thought about doing that anyway when I top it off before I put it in the barrel if I don't end up adding some more yeast first.

 

Is there any reason to not try to add some fresh yeast? I can't really think of anything other than just possibly wasting some money.

 

For clarification purposes, I currently have 4.9 gallons in the fermentor. But, I appear to have about a half gallon of trub.