Over the past month I have read over most of the pages in this post and can't wait until my grains come in from NorCalbrewing (Flat rate shipping to an FPO Box (Singapore)). A big thanks to guys there as it's not easy or cheap to get brewing items in the Far East. I am looking for people that have brewed this beer and have brewed this recipe and then have changed it for the better. I have read about the port soak oak chips and am interested in specific directions on that. I don't have an O2 set up so i am concerned about a stuck fermentation. I am currently making hard root beer and Hop Hammer IPA and feel that they should be fermenting faster than 2 +weeks. So if anyone has their best practice, please pass it on. I use a yeast starter via stir plate and plan on doing a gallon and cold crashing it to pour off 4/5th of it to get at the yeast cake. Any other tips are more than welcome.
Build another starter off the first one and add it after about 10-20 hours when it is at full krausen. Maybe sooner. Often referred to as a vitality starter. Basically make it the night before brew day.
I had no o2 on this but pitched on a full fresh cake of Pacman. Fermented out to 1.009. if you have plenty of active yeast, no o2 additional o2 is needed. Happy brewing!