Stuck fermentation

[mobrewer]

And high Krausen for a starter could be anywhere from 12-18 hours, yes? I mean, I know it will vary depending on the yeast strain and temperature but just to give the OP an idea of when to be ready to pitch.

[Petedadink]

2.5 lbs of chocolate malt? My guess there is a lot of unfermentable sugars
It might not ferment down to your target. Just a thought.

[Klickitat Jim]

In the grand scheme, yes active trumps size for trying to reboot a stall. But would you suggest he oxygenate his stalled beer and try to grow that little starter?

Honestly guys, its trying to fix a train wreck and it will never be great. No watter what he does.

[brewinhard]

A 1 liter starter of US-05 will be at high krause(most active) much faster than you think. Probably in as little as 6-10 hrs after pitching, so be ready to add this back to your stalled ferment. I would not aerate again to avoid possible oxidation. And as stated above, you may gain only a few more points out of this simply due to the use of dark extract (not as fermentable as light) and specialty malts. You might want to consider warming up the beer to 70F or so when adding the new starter. In all reality, if you can shave off 5 or so points down to a 1.025 I would call it a success.

[mobrewer]

Agreed on raising to 70F and the final gravity. But I wouldn't bother making a starter with US-05. Just rehydrate. I'd use liquid yeast for making a starter.

As Jim said, it may be like fixing a wreck. Brewing a new batch with less specialty grain and a good-sized 2L starter of liquid yeast then blending the two batches is an option.

Or sample it. If it tastes good just bottle it and drink it.

[Klickitat Jim]

There is also the other D rest... Dump it

[brewinhard]

Or package and serve it to friends crashing your parties....

[mobrewer]

Or use it a a base for stew. Guinness beef stew is awesome. You could also use it in chili or as a brine.