Dark Saison - what hops to use?

I've been wanting to try the Yeast Bay's Saison Blend II for a while, and figured with cooler weather coming, a dark saison would be a nice fit for this strain. The grain bill has been pretty much decided upon (although I'm open to suggestions), but mainly I've been toying with what sort of hops to use. I thought cascade could play nicely with the "Grapefruit/orange zest, and mild earthiness/spiciness" that the YB Saison II blend supposedly puts out. I'm shooting for around 30 IBUs.

Here are the recipe specifics:

Anticipated OG: 1.07
Anticipated FG: 1.01
IBUs: 30
ABV: 7.9%

Grain
11 lb Pale 2-row
2.5 lb Munich
12 oz Wheat malt
8 oz Special B
8 oz Midnight Wheat

Single infusion mash at 150°F (66°C) for 75 minutes.

Boil
1 oz Cascade at 60 minutes
0.5 oz Cascade at 10 minutes
1 oz Cascade Flameout

Yeast
Yeast Bay's Saison II blend

What are your thoughts on using cascade? You think it would make for an interesting flavor combo in a dark saison, or should I stick with more traditional saison hops like Saaz?

TIA

 

Thanks. I thought that too with adding sugar to help dry it out some more. Pilsner malt is available.. I'm guessing I should probably substitute that for the 2-row. The recipe is a work in progress so I'll definitely consider these suggestions. I've used Saaz enough on saisons, but Strisselspalt has always intrigued me. May use a high alpha hop like warrior for the bittering to get it to around 20 IBU, then late additions of Strisselspalt to get it to around 30.

 

After some re-thinking, here is what I've got for this:

Grain
12 lb Pilsner malt
12 oz Midnight Wheat
4 oz Carafa III

1 lb corn sugar (added to fermenter during high krausen)

Single infusion mash at 150°F (66°C) for 75 minutes.
Sparge at 168ºF for 15 minutes

Boil
0.5-0.75 oz Warrior at 60 minutes (shooting for 30-35 IBU)
1 oz East Kent Goldings at Flameout

Yeast
Yeast Bay's Saison II blend

I considered using a Belgian candi syrup like D90, but didn't feel like spending another $7 on that. Corn sugar will work just as well with that I'm trying to do.

Also considered 1 lb of rye malt or a bit of chocolate rye, but figured the yeast will be the contributor to any sort of spicy characteristic.

 

I was also thinking of doing a cold extraction with the midnight wheat and adding it to the boil. I did this with black roasted barley for a dark saison back in February (it's still souring in secondary now), but the samples were good. This is only my second Dark Saison, and this one's not getting brett or bacteria, so my plan is to keg this 3-4 weeks after brewing.

I'm looking for a smooth, roasty dark grain flavor, with minimal astringency. Maybe a little bite from the roasted grain, but not dominating like a stout.

 

So I'm veering off the original topic of this thread, but I'm debating how to treat the dark grains for this recipe. Thinking of mashing with 12 lb Pilsner, 1 lb rye malt, and 4 oz carafa III. Cold steeping 8 oz of midnight wheat and adding it to the boil. I've never used midnight wheat before.. think that's a good plan to get some dark grain flavor incorporated, but not be too harsh?

 

I really didn't figure out what the SRM would be for this.. if it turned out jet black I wouldn't be disappointed, I just don't wanna overdo it on any of the dark grains and have it taste like a stout fermented with a saison strain. Thanks for the heads up on using midnight wheat. Maybe I'll cold steep with some roasted barley to get the smoother roast flavors and use a bit of chocolate malt in the mash