modified NB chocolate milk stout questions

[zorak1066]

steep
.25 lb english extra dark crystal
.75 fawcett pale chocolate malt

malt extract
6 lbs dark malt syrup
1 lb lactose

hops
1oz cluster 60min
.5 oz cluster 30 min

started on 8-19. after flame out i added about 1 qt of cold brewed / filtered starbucks espresso coffee (half lb of course grounds in a mason jar, about a qt of water... cover..fridge for about 2 days prior to brew day). let the wort sit for about 10 minutes before chilling to pitch temp.

OG 1.050 uncorrected for temp

us-04 pitched 2 packs rehydrated... blow off airlock. kept fermenter at around 62-64f.

fermentation took off like a rocket in about 12 hrs... was shooting foam like a volcano.

8-24 sanitized a qt mason jar.. added 4 oz cacao nibs in a hop sack and covered with vodka. lid screwed on and let sit on counter til today.

9-2 while i normally do NOT use secondaries because of the risks of infection, today i went with a 5 gallon bucket. washed.. sanitized with iodophor... then spritzed with star san just for good measure. added the cacao..nibs, vodka (mostly absorbed). added a small layer of co2 to the bottem of bucket and slowly racked.

QUESTIONS:

1. took a gravity reading - 1.025. with as vigorous a fermentation that i had shouldnt that number be much lower by now?

2. omg the trub! i had nearly an inch of trub that looked like heavily compacted chocolate pudding! it moved like chocolate pudding. since i racked it off the yeast bed and it isnt quite done, do you think i'll end up tossing in more yeast in a week or so to get it down to 1.01 'ish?

NB says to give it 2-4 weeks in the secondary before bottling.

anyway.. i tasted the gravity sample. wow! the espresso flavor is there... not at all bitter. it already has a mild chocolatey milky flavor even without the nibs.


thanks in advance...

[TimeTraveler]

The lactose is not fermentable and could contribute to a higher FG reading. I did a similar brew and had a higher FG than I figured, but it turned out OK. However, I did have to condition it a lot longer before it was really ready to drink - like 3 months.

[zorak1066]

thanks for the answer. that would explain it... note to self, lactose -> higher final grav reading.