A quick update for anyone interested...
The beer is in a corny keg for a couple of weeks of conditioning. Here's what happened:
I brewed the batch (went fine) and put it in the basement which is as a constant 68 degrees. Yeast went into beer Friday evening. I checked the beer on Sunday evening and there was a slight krausen ring on the fermenter about an inch above the beer. Fermentation seemed to have slowed appreciably.
I checked it again that Tuesday and low-and-behold, fermentation kicked into high gear at some point and my blow-off tube was tested to the max. I took a gravity reading.
Another gravity reading was the same Thur night so on day 6, needing the fermenter for another project and against my better judgement, the beer went into a corny keg.
I peeled off 16 ounces and force carbed it with a homemade carb cap. We tested it and had interesting, but predictable results:
Slight honey aroma from the gambrinous honey malt, light in color (straw), slight more mouth feel than I was after (but acceptable) and very low bitterness (the batch is for the wife).
It was also (understandably so) green as hell and had a bit of a sour aftertaste. My blow-off was a bit messy and I had some strange krausen at the end, but I contributed the little sourness to 6 days in the fermenter and 30 PSI of CO2 on the beer with vigorous shaking in the soda bottle.
I forced carbed the rest of the corny at 30 PSI for 30 hours or so then down to 12. A couple of days later the beer was MUCH better - drinkable and actually pretty good. The little sour note was 70% gone.
I have since pulled the keg from the refrigerator and it's in a cool room for a couple of weeks of aging.
I think with a little bit of time to come together this beer will be just fine. I hit it on the head, mostly.... with a few changes (below) and a bit more patience next time, I think it will be a really good beer!
--4oz carapils instead of 8oz
--2.25 oz Sazz at 60 min instead of 1.75
--Plan on 2 weeks minimum in the fermenter
--Duck911