Saison Miel de Sarraison - Buckwheat Honey Saison

I'm looking to make this recipe with some changes based on what Mike, The Mad Fermentationist, put in his tasting notes for this recipe.

This is the recipe I'm looking at as a base for this:
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2010/12/fig-honey-anise-dark-sasion.html

Essentially dropping the figs as he said he wasn't sure they really contributed anything and get that flavor from Special B or the homemade Dark Candi Syrup. Going to use Saaz for bittering since I have a bunch to use and it goes with the Belgian style. Going with WY3711 because it's easy, I have some washed and ready to go, and I don't have good temp control.

Essentially looking for something with some dark fruitinees, like a dubbel, a little funk typical of a Saison, and mild roast in the finish.

Here's what I'm contemplating:
Batch Size (Gal): 5.5
Total Grain (Lbs): 12.75
Anticipated OG: 1.062
Anticipated SRM: 21-25 depending on Candi Syrup contribution
Anticipated IBU: 23
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 minutes

Grain/Sugar
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62.75% 8.00 lbs. German Pilsener
15.69% 2.00 lbs. German Munich Malt
3.92% .50 lbs. Flaked Oats
2.94% 0.375 lbs. Carafa Special II
2.94% 0.375 lbs. CaraMunich
1.96% 0.25 lbs. Special B
3.92% 0.5 lbs. Buckwheat Honey
5.88% 0.75 lbs. Candi Syrup - Deep Amber or Mahogany from https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=114837

Hops
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2 oz. Czech Saaz (Pellet, 3.5% AA) @ 60 min.

Extras
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1.00 Tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 min.

3 stars of Star Anise @ 5 min.
.25oz Cinnamon @ 5 min.

Yeast
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WY3711 - French Saison
Starter - No using washed from previous Saison

are you looking for advice? I've made a good share of dark saisons and I'd jsut say to be sure to do a mashout at 168-ish for 10min. It will extract the last of the dark colors from the grains. Mash low ( i do 148) for a nice lean saison body

Also, if you want, save the candi syrup to add into the fermentor on the cold side. It will retain the delicate flavors more. I add mine at high krausen and the yeast activity mixes it all up

Yes looking for feedback.

Forgot to include the mashout step, bit would be planning to do one like you stated.

Adding candi syrup at Hugh krausen sounds good. Been reading a bunch on adding early in the boil to adding in the fermenter. Doesn't seem to be any consensus on the subject, but many lean towards adding in the fermenter.

I was thinking of mashing around 153 since 3711 is a beast and seems to dry out anything and I wanted to keep a little bit of body in this, not a lot but more than the typical saison.

You got like 8% crystal type malts in there, so I'd think that would get you all the body you want. Normal pale saisons usually dont have any crystal malts

Guess you're right. After looking at my other Saison recipes none of those have any crystal malts, or anything besides base malts and sugar really.

Any thoughts on the Carafa for a little roast in the end or would a different malt be better for that? I'm not looking for stout like roast, just a little to make it unique.

I love using midnight wheat in my dark saisons. It has the highest SRM of any malt I know (550) but also contributes the least amount of roast flavor. For reference, that carafa II is also huskless for less bitterness, but its only 250-300 I think. Plus its got more roast flavor.

Point is, midnight wheat fits great in dark saisons for a small twist. plus its a wheat malt so it helps with head retention a bit and wheat is traditionally used in saisons.

I guess the Oats and the Carafa are what I'm guessing at for the grains. I could swap out the Oats for regular Flaked Wheat, not really sure why the original used oats except maybe for some mouthfeel, which 3711 should help out with. I want some roast in the finish, from what I've read Midnight Wheat doesn't really come through unless you're really looking for it, most people seem to be using it for the color and head retention. I could go with Carafa III which is rated for 490L-560L, so get about the same color and hopefully the roast i'm looking for. I mainly looking for the level that Ommegang's Three Eyed Raven has if you've had that, their description on their website doesn't identify which specialty malts they used. I could try emailing them to see if they'll divulge anything.

The Star Anise is another thing I'm not sure of. I think many tend to be more conventional, to style, type of brewers so they keep spice additions very mild, almost to the point you can't pick them up. I haven't used Star Anise before so I'm going off the original recipe and guessing a little on that amount.