Pull off 2.5 quarts when starting to sparge for the decoction. Boil it down to a syrup of about 2 cups.
add honey at 15 minutes left in boil to pasteurize it.
Don't want it smoky? Leave it out and you get the base beer which is still great. It is a little sweet, so you can add a bit more bittering
I am fermenting a batch of base beer (no smoke malt) on 4/11/2020, it is an experiment - I am reusing a US-05 slurry from my Kona LemonWave brew. So, this will determine if it goes way drier or if the yeast gives up. BTW - The OG came in at 1.070 with the decoction added. Fermentation snap started within 4 hours of pitching - I think because the slurry was WAY BIGGER than a dry pitch would be and it was hungry after a diet for the previous few days.
(Update: It did not go too dry - I want to rebrew this with the smoke malt and perhaps try a different base malt - maybe
Bestmalz Red X or Goldpils or Briess Ashburne malt (5.3L)
I think It would be better with more color, also.