I should note that down to under 3 gallons or so would be a major failing for me. I have to have at least 2-3 beers ready to go into a keg or in the (capacity of 5) keg fridge before I feel that I'm at a decent level of beer remaining.
I just recently did an experiment with a black lager (Eat My Schwarzbier from The Homebrewer's Recipe Guide). I did the normal process, except I used avocado honey instead of molasses and used two non-traditional yeasts, namely kölsch ale and california common lager in two different carboys. I fermented at 60F. Once racked to secondary, then to kegs, then carbed, I did a side by side taste. They kölsch was fruitier (but still good) and the california lager was damn close to the czech and munich lager yeasts I've used before. I would strongly recommend using the steam beer yeast (California common) for a 'lager' if you don't want to wait and want something close to the clean lager characteristics.
I should note that brewing to drinking was a long 3.5 weeks for both yeasts as I shook carbed both kegs once cold. If bottle conditioning you'll probably have to add another few weeks.
If this doesn't sound fun, I do a yeast experiment with a well know recipe.
Kyle
Recipe
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 33.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 23.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
16.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 73.56 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 9.20 %
1.00 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 4.60 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4.60 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.30 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 2.30 %
1.25 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (90 min) Hops 18.3 IBU
0.50 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (30 min) Hops 5.3 IBU
0.25 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
2.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 3.45 %
1 Pkgs San Francisco Lager (White Labs #WLP810) Yeast-Lager
Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 21.00 lb
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My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Step Add 26.25 qt of water at 162.5 F 151.0 F