High ABV Questions

[ACBEV]

Next week I'm planning to brew the following recipe for comsuming next December/January (2018/19).

I reckon the ABV once bottle conditioned would be around 10%

My interpretation of Adnams Tally Ho
6000g United Kingdom - Mild
500g United Kingdom - Amber
500g United Kingdom - Dark Crystal 80L
500g Belgian - Special B
300g United Kingdom - Wheat
200g German - De-Husked Caraf III
200g Demerara Sugar (boil)
8.2kg Total
Plus 200g Demerara Sugar for priming

60 mins 40g Fuggles
30 mins 40g Fuggles
15 mins 40g Goldings
5 mins 10g Goldings

Mash @ 65c - 1 hour

I have several questions...

Should I pitch more yeast than usual?
Should I use 1 or 2 fermentors?
What yeast you'd recommend?

Would like to keep the yeast English, but have used wyeast 3522 to good effect before'

STRAIN: 3522 BELGIAN ARDENNES
One of the great and versatile strains for the production of classic Belgian style ales. This strain produces a beautiful balance of delicate fruit esters and subtle spicy notes, with neither one dominating. Unlike many other Belgian style strains, this strain is highly flocculent and results in bright beers.

HIGH FLOCCULATION
72 - 76 ATTENUATION
65 - 76 TEMPERATURE RANGE
12 ABV

 

[jmcnamara]

You'll definitely be rewarded for building a yeast starter for this beer. There's a lot of sugar to chew through, so give them a running start.
I say use a secondary, especially if you're going to be bulk aging it for a while.

 

[Nosybear]

A big pitch of yeast, as JM said, plus secondary oxygenation. You can't aerate a beer this big with sufficient oxygen and one shot won't do it. Oxygenate a second time 12-18 hours after pitching. That big, the fermentation character of a Belgian yeast might be overwhelming - I'd stick with the English yeast. And definitely rack to a second fermentor: You'll be aging this for a while for best effect.

Key to a beer this big is always attenuating it enough so pay very close attention to your yeast health and temperatures. Start cool then gradually raise the temperature to the top of the range as fermentation progresses. Should be good.