Milestone Crusader - treat as Ale or Lager?

[Paulie Walnuts]

I have a few kits in the store cupboard and am looking at starting the Milestone Crusader in the next week or so.

Normally I bottle lager and chill to 2 degrees before drinking. Ales I keep in a King Keg top tap and drink at room temperature, but also fill around 10 bottles from each batch to keep for a few months longer so I always have a nice selection to choose from at a later date.

I'm not sure how to treat the Crusader kit though. Technically it's an ale - it comes with Gervin (Nottingham) Ale yeast and should be brewed at a higher temperature than lager. Description of the taste though is "Belgian style Blond Beer with a zesty clean finish", which sounds pretty much like a lager to me.

Has anyone else here brewed one of these kits? If it tastes more like lager than ale then I don't think I would like it from a keg at room temperature.

 

[RobWalker]

Blonde Beers benefit from fruity flavours imo, so I'd go for ale for fermentation. Do you have the ability to lager it or are you just talking about whether to serve it chilled or just cool?

If you're lagering, just decide whether you want it clean or flavoursome I guess, and there's your answer.

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

My main concern, though it's not really a massive one, is based around the decision of whether to bottle or keg. If it's ok to drink at room temperature and fairly flat then I would be happy kegging, but I suspect it may be a little too light and 'lager like' for that, in which case I would probably enjoy it more if bottled and chilled.

Kegging is more convenient, and I only have eight 20 bottle crates which are filling up rapidly, but at the moment I'm swaying towards the bottle & chill route.