The last time I used GNO in a saison, i used 8%. I also used 8% each of rye malt and wheat malt, and hopped with Nelson, Mosaic and Cascade. I used Belle Saison. It was pretty good IIRC, I didn't feel that the GNO took over at all.
Sounds great. I love golden naked oats, and Galaxy is an excellent hop for a saison, IMO. You could probably do two or three oz though - if you want it hoppy and tropical, do it proper. I'd dry hop it as well.
75% pilsner malt
12,5% caramel malt
12,5% chocolate malt
Bitter to maybe 30 IBUs at beginning of boil with any classic european hop.
It's fermented with a pretty clean lager yeast, but before 1993 they used Ringwood.
I think this is a good idea! In my experience Belle Saison is a monster that almost attenuates too well, so depending on your recipe you might want to mash a bit higher to counteract that.
I think nowadays it's very common to use black patent, more so than brown malt. I would not use more chocolate malt either, that's quite a lot. Don't worry about colour, after 30 it's pretty black anyway. About the hops: the 45 min addition is mostly about the bitterness so that doesn't really...
What was unbalanced about it? It seems like a good recipe, simple and quite classic. The only thing I'd question is the Hallertau, I'd probably use something brittish like Fuggles or EKG, or continue with the Northern Brewer or some other classic american hop like Cascade.
Could I ask about number 2? You say that you don't keep co2 on your kegs in the walk-in, and looking at the pictures I see no co2 lines, but liquid lines going out to your very impressive bar. How does the beer get there? You need co2 to push it, no? Am I missing something?
I like to use about 8% each of rye, wheat and oats, then a couple of ounces of Cascade and Mosaic in the whirlpool. Low IBUs, lots of yeast character and plenty aromatic.