Since “Dead Guy” is so good, how about….

I was walking down the Beer aisle in my local grocery store looking for inspiration for something “different” to brew after my next-on-deck batch, when I looked up and saw some “Dead Guy Ale”. I love Dead Guy, I said to myself, how freaking cool is the concept of brewing a Maibock as an Ale… one thought lead to another, and so now I’m thinking of brewing a Schwarzbier kind of thing as an Ale. I would bet money that this has been done before, and isn’t anything new, but it sure sounds good to me. If this turns out good maybe I’ll try a Marzen or a Dopplebock…
I’m not set up for Lagering, and have never had the inclination to get into Lagers, but this could open up a whole new world of possibilities for me.

What I have in mind is a very simple grain bill, such as…

+/- 68% Munich Malt (7lbs for a 5-gallon batch)
+/- 29% Pilsner Malt (3lbs)
+/- 3% Carafa III (5oz)
Perle Hops? Any suggestions?
a clean Ale yeast like S-05 (wish I had some pac-man...)
Say an O.G. of around 1.048 (on the low end of the style, but fits comfortably in my 5-gal cooler), 29 IBU and about 20 SRM.
So, what do you think?
What Temp. does one normally mash this sort of thing at? (I brew English type stuff man) My gut says around 153… 154??
I’ve never done a decoction mash, but it may be called for with this, any suggestions?

I am not sure if it is a Maibock or Schwartz beer, but if you are looking for a Dead Guy Clone, check out the Jamil Show "You Can Brew It"
If you have not heard it, they interview the brewer and give you a great starting point.
If not, regarding not be able to lager, try California Common yeast and do your best to keep in the upper 50's-lower 60's and you should be set to go.
Good luck.

Dead Guy is a Maibock brewed as an ale. I think what the OP is trying to say is that he wants to do the same concept with a Schwartz beer. I thinks its a great idea and wish you luck with your recipe. If it turns out good, let us know because I'd be interested in trying it as well.

Hambone, that is exactly what I have in mind. If it works with a Maibock (and Dead Guy is awesome), shouldn't the same concept work for any of the malty Lagers....

No intent to clone anything, just to apply the concept to another style. It’s not so much that I “can’t” Lager, but that I have no desire to, there are very few Lagers that I will drink, let alone want to brew. I chose Schwarzbeir because it is one of the few Lagers that I actually like, and it has the lowest O.G. of the styles I was considering… lower O.G. means I can easily do it all grain (without doing two mashes, or a “partial extract&#8221, and lower O.G. = less ingredients = lower investment (it is after all an experiment). It was a hard choice between it and a Munich Dunkel…
Aside from all that, how does my recipe look?

I have a Schwartz beer bottle conditioning right now that will be ready in late October, but I did it as a lager not an ale so I can't really help. The great thing about this experiment is that you can make it to your liking. I used an almost ratio opposite of you however, where I had about 57% pils and 40% munich with the same amount of Carafa III. Your yeast seems fine but I used Saaz and sterling hops because thats what the recipe called for. Good luck and happy brewing!

Not to be a thread nazi, but I thought this thread was about a dead guy clone. So FWIW you might want to change your thread title to indicate that you are interested in a Schwartzbier and you might get some more feedback.

Just trying to help out!

FWIW, the aussiebrewer Brew In A Bag howto includes a schwartzbier recipe done as an ale (with Coopers yeast I believe.)

broadbill, not a bad suggestion.... but I can't figure out how to revise the thread title...

I brewed Bamburg Helles last weekend and I have it fermenting with a german ale yeast. need to get another fridge for lagering...

just go for it

if you are looking for a great deadguy ale clone, you don't have to try to make one up.

Yooper's clone is the goto dead guy clone here. I have brewed it 4 times, including with pacman yeast.

I have compared it head to head in a taste test and dg fans I know liked it better.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/dead-guy-clone-extract-ag-see-note-25902/

Seriously, you want a great DG clone...this is it.

And she also has a maibock as well.

Enjoy!