My intention was to take advantage of the freezing weather in Manchesterⁱ & make a lager, since I could keep it cool during fermentation & cold during maturation for several weeks.   The freezing weather stopped the post getting through with my lager yeast though so I revived some ale yeast from a bottle of a previous brew, GEM.   A lager fermented using ale yeast & at an alew temperature before maturing in the cold is a Kolsch-style beer (although a real Kolsch must come from near Cologneⁱ).

This beer should be extremely pale, with a delicate hop flavour - certainly compared with my recent American-style pale ales.

Mash - 70°C strike temperature, then back upto 67°C in just a few mins & held there for 1 hour 45 mins (I got distracted & couldn't get back to the kitchen).   Final beer volume 20 litres.

4.0 Kg pale malt

Boil 1 hour 10mins

Willamette hops (4.1% alpha acid): 20g at start of boil, 10g after 50mins.

Liberty hops (4.3% alpha acid): 20g at start of boil, 10g after 50mins.

Saaz hops (2.1% alpha acid): 20g at start of boil, 10g after 50mins.

Dried elderflowers 10g after 50 mins.

Using the very handy recipe formulator, the alcohol level should be around 4.6% & bitterness at 45 IBUⁱⁱⁱ.

Verdict on bottling: Very subtle compared with most of of other brews. Fruity-malty sweet - but that will dry out given a few weeks - with a gentle hoppiness & next to no bitterness.   Looking forward to this.

Verdict after 1 week: A light malty sweetness. Some delicate hops & bitterness. Needs to mature for another fortnight at least.

Verdict after 2 weeks: Failing to carbonate up to the required level, but has cleared nicely. Bottles opened & 2 heaped teaspoons of sugar added to prime them.

Verdict after 5 weeks: A nice drink, but has a yeasty-homebrew flavour that I haven't found in my beers in a while. Another few weeks should age this out hopefully. Carbonated up nicely so that when served from the fridge it retains some CO₂.

Verdict after 8 weeks: Almost completely clear - just a little haze remaining. Very pale straw colour. Just a little vegetal DMS flavour. Good fresh cut grass bitterness. Some sultana-like fruitiness. Another few weeks before it gets to its peak.

Verdict after 9 weeks: Almost spot on now. The vegetal flavour has dissapeared leaving a fresh beer with a smooth creamy head.