Sweet taste in a low FG beer - the yeast?

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pjj2ba

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I've just tapped into a very strong Saison (10% ABV) that had a final gravity of 1.008. I force carbed. I'm surprised at how sweet and rich this tastes, knowing that the final gravity is fairly low. I used White labs 566 Belgian Saison II - platinum strain - for the first time on this beer and my holiday ale. I'm suspicious the sweetness and richness is largely due to the yeast, with the sweetness being not from a standard residual sugar, but something else (a modified sugar?) that has a greater sweetness. 1.008 for a final gravity is typical for my lagers and they aren't sweet. Forgot to check my grain bill, but I'm sure it was at least 90% pilsner malt. I'll double check tonight

Another thing that I just remembered was this beer was made to use up the last of the previous years bulk order. This grain was not converting as well as normal and my efficiency was 10 % lower than normal. Although I can't figure out how that would give me extra sweetness. Flavor, sure, but again this fermented down really well so I'm suspicious the sweetness is not from a standard sugar.

Any ideas? I like the result and I want to understand the cause so I can duplicate it in future brews.
 
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