Waterless Imperial maple brown ale problem

Hi anyone,

I'm a little freaked out so I'll try to be coherent.

This beer is huge. For 5 gallons I used:

4.75 gallons of maple sap - measured at 1.015 just because I was curious
6 lb lme - 15 min before end of boil
2.5 lb dme
11 oz. maple syrup 2 min before end of boil

Partial mash
.5 lb Munich US
.5 lb crystal 20l
.5 lb Victory
.5 lb crystal 60
.375 lb chocolate malt US
.25 lb roasted barley

Hops
Styrian holdings .5 oz 60 min
kent Golding .5 oz
6 oz of fresh cascade right off the nine
.5 oz Saaz US

Gypsum 1tsp
burton salts package
Irish moss 1 tsp
Yeast nutrient 1 tsp

Wyeast Scottish ale yeast smacked the pack and it was inflated to fairly solid pressure before I pitched at 75 degrees (first time with wort chiller. Love that)

I pour my wort into the carboy with a lot of splashing and then shake it up for a couple minutes before topping off with water (about 1/2 a quart) then I pitched.

OG 1.100. I had expected 1.087 according to my estimator app so the sap showed up (no way to enter that in the app as a ferment able)

According to the recipe I'm still supposed to add another pound at peak of fermentation (boiled and cooled for bugs)

How long can I expect before the yeast takes off and what do I do if it doesn't? I have a couple packs of Nottingham t the ready for stuff like this.

I'm second guessing everything because I have yet to see any activity. that's my first concern is getting it rolling.

Should I add that second addition of a pound of syrup once I get it kicked off?

Thanks all! Any thoughts are greatly appreciated .

I'm betting that's a major under-pitch going on, and the yeast are building their numbers to take on that huge OG...

Cheers!

So be patient is gonna be the key? Would another smack pack help? You're telling me to learn to build a starter, right? Yep I better do that! Thanks!

Patience will only carry you so far in a significantly under-pitched situation. If it's out of balance enough it will lead to under-attenuation, and I suspect you were shy by about half.

I would pitch the second smack-pack if you have one...

Cheers!

[edit] I just ran that OG through the yeast tool at MrMalty.Com, and things look worse than I thought: it called for 4 yeast packs for a 100 point 5.25g batch. You're definitely going to want to do something to get that batch in some semblance of balance, or you're going to end up with some very special pancake syrup...

Thank you for the advice sir. I I'll get a couple more packs moving in it ASAP. I did not expect that big of an OG. I've done braggot with a pack of safale 05 and a pack of champagne pitched dry right into the must with an OG of 1.225 and boom going nuts the next morning. I'm thinking some yeast energizer would also be n order. Thank you again for the extra effort.

Mr. Malty can suggest some pretty absurd things sometimes in my opinion, but you should definitely get some more yeast in that baby! Another pack at least, and perhaps making a starter before pitching would be a good idea. Sounds like a very interesting and potentially very yummy beer. Good luck!

It's alive! Alive!! She lives and is gaining strength. Blowoff was in place from the start and it's gonna need it. I did not get to another smack pack. I live in Minneapolis aNd if you've seen our weather today....I didn't want to just dump in Nottingham because I have it.

Anyone have thoughts on that maple syrup addition? Keep in mind it's a pound more. On top of An OG that's already in outer space.

I'm thinking at most I would do half the amount. I'm also going to be priming with the syrup so maple will be surely represented in the final product.

I expect most if not all current maple additions to bubble out the airlock as its a simple sugar and will easily turn to ethanol.

Thank you all for the support !