What. A. Day! So, I worked up the 10-gallon batch starting at 8am, hit my mash-in temp almost dead on, and ended up deciding to take the RIMS system for a test-drive. While initially I had a fast-enough circulation rate and was watching the temp steadily increase to the set-value, at some point I decided to slow down the flow. Bad move. I think I know the factors involved, but in any case, after completing the boil and preparing to cool and pitch, something didn't seem right. I pulled off a sample and it tasted bitter. Not wanting to just be paranoid I gave my wife a small sample, which she described as bitter as well. Long story short, I ended dumping out the entire batch, and started over from scratch. As much as I hated to do it, I would rather waste the grain and 5-hours of work, rather than waste weeks and months to end up with burnt ass saison and a sour burnt ass saision. Thankfully I was able to scrounge up enough Hallertau and more wheat malt, and started round 2 at around 2:30pm. By 8:30pm, the house and garage were cleaned, and I now have 2 carboys sitting in the corner. In the end, I did a 5-gallon batch with the Belgian Saison, and a 5-gallon batch with just the Roesalare. I'll work on prepping the aquarium heater to start ramping up the fermentation temperature for the Belgian Saison once I start to see signs of active fermentation.
I've never gone through an entire 50-pound sack of grain in 1 day before. Have to admit, it felt kind of good! Although, next time I would rather have twice as many fermenters full!
After a 12.5 hour brew day, and a shower, I'm going to finish my pint glass and call it a night. I appreciate everyone's comments and feedback. I'm patiently looking forward to the eventual outcome(s).