I have a weak Pale Ale on tap with pretty much 2-row and some Melanodin (maybe a lb), and some west coast "C" hops. It was a recipe I came up with to get a lower alcohol Pale Ale with some nice hop and malt flavor in a relatively simple recipe. I've grown tired of Crystal in Pale ales and IPAs, so thought it'd be interesting to try.
When it was green, shortly after kegging and not fully carbed, I didn't like it much. I thought I had used too much Melanodin. But after about 6 weeks(total), I really like it. Very drinkable, good flavor, kinda Octoberfesty but light and easy to drink alot of. I tasted many Pilsners and some Marzens at the Canned Beer Festival in Reno yesterday, and liked mine better. Very quaffable, and met my all goals for the beer. I'm really a Pale Ale and IPA fan, however, so YMMV.
Whether it gets the nod from decoction fans is another story. People are often shooting for something very subtle in the lager realm, and Melanoidin may not measure up used that way. But that wasn't my intent, so YMMV...
I'll dig up and post the recipe here, now that it turned out so good, although I'm a little unsure of the category. It was just below or on the low end of Pale Ale for O.G.
At any rate, experimenting with a little Melanoidin is well worth it, especially for those that just do infusion mashes and batch sparging! Go for it!
Edit -- oh, Marris Otter flavor? I don't think so...