Clone Attempt: Smuttynose Baltic Porter

My homebrew club is having a clone competition. We're attempting to clone the Smuttynose Baltic Porter. I haven't tasted said brew but we were given some information about the recipe (and it's on the website of the brewery). I had to make a couple of substitutions, as usual.

I don't want to have 5 gallons of 9%+ beer, particularly when 5 gallons of RIS will be ready soon, so I brewed a 3-gallon batch of the Baltic Porter and will put it into my small keg. Along with my Barleywine and Russian Stouts this is the highest ABV beer I've ever brewed.

Baltic Porter - 3 Gallon

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Smuttynose Baltic Porter CloneStyle: Baltic Porter
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 5.24 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.59 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 3.25 gal  
Bottling Volume: 3.15 gal
Estimated OG: 1.097 SG
Estimated Color: 56.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 40.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 69.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
7 lbs 4.0 oz          Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)           Grain         1        53.0 %       
2 lbs 10.0 oz         Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)                    Grain         2        19.2 %       
1 lbs 5.0 oz          Amber Malt (22.0 SRM)                    Grain         3        9.6 %        
11.0 oz               Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)    Grain         4        5.0 %        
11.0 oz               Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)   Grain         5        5.0 %        
9.0 oz                Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)          Grain         6        4.1 %        
9.0 oz                Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)               Grain         7        4.1 %        
0.50 oz               Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 90.0 min        Hop           8        19.4 IBUs    
0.75 oz               Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min        Hop           9        16.5 IBUs    
1.25 oz               Sterling [7.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  5.0 Hop           10       4.5 IBUs     
1.0 pkg               Old Bavarian Lager (White Labs #WLP920)  Yeast         11       -            


Mash Schedule: 154F, Batch Sparge, Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs 11.0 oz
----------------------------
Name                    Description                                          Step Temperat Step Time    
Mash Step               Add 17.11 qt of water at 170.8 F                     154.0 F       60 min       
Mash Step               Add 10.95 qt of water at 194.9 F                     168.0 F       10 min       

Sparge: Batch sparge with 1 steps (Drain mash tun ) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------

1/13/16: Made starter with ~1200 ml water, yeast nutrient, and 70g extract, lightly hopped. Fermented at ~55F.

1/17/16: Brewed. Went well except for minor boil-over. I hit my mash temp, and got pre-boil OG of 1.070, at about 5.1 gallons. Boiled 10 mins before adding hops.  Neglected to take OG at end of boil. Force-chilled to 60F, then placed in fermentation fridge overnight for cooling to 45F. 

By brewday the starter had fermented.

1/18/16, 10am. Oxygenated for 1 minute, pitched mostly decanted starter. Total volume in fermenter, including trub, was about 3.5 - 4 gallons. Temperature profile will be 45F for 12 hours, then ramp over 12 hours to 50F, hold for two weeks. Then diacetyl rest followed by cold crashing and lagering.

1/20/16, 5pm: Fermentation proceeding actively. Nice krausen but I don't yet think at highkrausen.

1/27/16, 530pm. Still actively fermenting after more than a week though high Hayden has probably passed. I probably under pitched by a substantial amount, so I am a bit worried that fermentation will stall. But the continued activity is a good sign.

2/20/16: After crash cooling to 35F and holding for a few days, racked to 3-gallon keg and purged head space. Began carbonation.