I chose 550 because it was one of the higher-attenuating Belgian yeast strains. If it drops a few points below 1.018, I will not be terribly disappointed. Dry is OK with me on this brew. If any of you have experience with another strain of yeast that will add more of that traditional Belgian "funk" let me know. I really love Belgian beer, and I want this brew to have all the phenols, esters, and general yeasty funkiness that is characteristic of Belgian beer. One of the reason I was considering the Carafa II and the Chocolate malts is that this is sort of a "clean out the closet" brew that I hope to use up some of the small quantities of leftover malt that I have on hand now. That is also the reason for the 1/2 ounce of EKG at 60. I have it here, and I want to use it up before it goes bad.
I probably will add the candi sugar after 1 or 2 days in primary just to lower the overall stress level of the yeast, unless stressing the yeast will give me more of that yummy yeasty grunge that is Belgian beer.