High gravity carbonating question

I just brewed my 4th extract batch and went a little crazy with this one. I like high gravity beers and decided to make a Midwest Supplies recipe a high gravity batch. I used everything in the following recipe kit:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/pumpkin-ale.html#Details_tab

Plus:
3 lbs DME
80oz total pumpkin pie filling
Doubled the spices

Per my local homebrew store's suggestion, I pitched 3 smack-packs of 1056 Wyeast.

My concerns are two-fold...First, it's going to be a high gravity beer for sure. Smells amazing and fermentation went very well. I can't remember what the OG/FG is when I measured it but it should be around 11%. Should I pitch some dry yeast into the bottling bucket to get the priming sugar activated? How much? What's this process exactly?

Second, when I racked to secondary after 2 weeks, I lost about 1.8 Gallons to trub (all of that delicious pumpkin filling). Is the normal 3/4 cup of priming sugar that was provided in the kit TOO much since I lost so much volume?

I'm trying to make sure the beer carbonates without having any bottle bombs due to excessive yeast/priming sugar.

Help a new brewer out, please. Got into this for the experimenting and it definitely hasn't let me down so far.

Thanks.

I have found that gravity doesn't require more yeast, it is beers that have aged / lagered for a long time that might require it. As for sugar, look for an online calculator, there are lots of them out there. OTOH, pitching 1/2 pack of dry yeast similar to or less than the attenuation of the original yeast can't really hurt, it has a minimal flavor impact, and won't ferment the beer further, other than turning the priming sugar into carbonation.

I pitched 3 smack-packs of 1056 Wyeast.

Click to expand...

Your LHBS really jipped you here. Instead of $20+ of yeast, you could have gotten the same exact result with one pack, less than 1/4 lb of DME, and some water.

You can make a starter without having a stir plate and a flask. I do mine in 2 liter bottles!

Thanks for the feedback. It's also strange because the beer calculus calculator told me it was only 7%. Maybe I'm not doing it correctly...