Double Enghein Blonde Ale Activator yeast trouble

Hey folks:
I have made about 10 brews using extracts. This time I went with a clone.  The guys at the shop fixed me up and I took down the recipe.  The brew call for more 8 pounds of extract and 4m ounces of Belgian sugar crystals. All went well but after three days, no co2 bubbles and no foam on the wort.  I did have a high Initial gravity  1.09 and the Belles Abby wyeast with the activator smack pack inside said it work for a wort of 1.07.  Was my brew to heavy?  Did it kill the yeast? Do I just need to be patient?  Should I try to dilute to 1.07 sp g.  Comments, opinions and options are welcome.  Thanks

The "rule of thumb" on Wyeast packs is that they can do 5 gallons of 1.050 wort without doing a starter first.  That assumes some aeration prior to pitching too.  If your beer was 1.090, the yeast count in a smack pack is not enough to survive the high-gravity environment and eat that much malt sugar before tiring and then retiring.  Under good conditions, it may perform so-so, but would likely under-attenuate the big wort. 

If you are not familiar with making starters, I'd recommend buying two more packs and adding them quickly.  And that assumes you're confident of the sanitation b/c the bad guys have had three days to get a toe-hold. 

Best of luck. 

What gravity is it at now?


1.090 is not all that big but all that maltlicker said should be followed.

What temp was the wort during fermentation?  We have had warm weather and warm fermentations can be real fast fermentations.

Fred

I agree you need to take a gravity reading and let us know before we can help.

Cheers
Preston