My first attempts at brewing did not go well. I followed the instructions diligently, combining malted grain, hops and yeast, then leaving the mixture - which smelled like warm bread - in my living room for two weeks. Siphoning the beer from the plastic vat into bottles without getting sticky residue everywhere was the trickiest part. Finally, I spooned a pinch of sugar into each bottle before sealing them and placing them in the loft. Two months later I lugged the wannabe ale down into the kitchen -whereupon, on opening a bottle, it exploded like champagne. I'd made a rookie mistake and put in too much sugar. Yeast converts it to carbon dioxide and the pressure in my bottles had built up to an almost dangerous level. But once the fizz bubbled away, the beer didn't taste half bad. This convinced me that even an incompetent brewer like me can make a passable ale. My confidence boosted, I decided to try something altogether more ambitious. There are times on a hot day when only a clean-tasting lager will do to quench a thirst, so why not make one myself? And not just any lager, but a pilsner - an especially pale, clean-tasting beer.
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