JW Lees x Cloudwater, Not Quite Pale...

We’re back, brewing collaborations and releasing new and exciting beers. This week marks the start of a beer series collaborating with some of the best breweries we know…. And we can’t wait to crack on.

The Boilerhouse is our pilot plant a space to foster a spirit of innovation. When we talk about The Boilerhouse we talk about being restless and being on a mission to experiment with new styles of beers.

And for the last few years we’ve been very restless, waiting for the conditions around Covid to allow us to bring people together and start brewing collaborations.

Our first collaboration launched this week and will be pouring across Manchester next week, but these beers won’t be pouring in Manchester for long – the batch sold out on the first day.

The first collab is with Cloudwater! We first brewed with Cloudwater in 2016 for Manchester Beer Week, another event with the aim to bring people together.

Things have changed since then, beers have evolved and the line-up of team members’ has changed. But the same buzz in the brewery that existed in 2016 exists now, one change though, we brewed on our 10bbl Boilerhouse kit, not the 200bbl Greengate kit that sits across four floors of our 1876 brewhouse. Being on the smaller kit allows us to be more experimental… you don’t want to make a mistake with 200bbl weight.

So what about the beer? Absolutely no mistakes here…

With mountains of new waves hops, our collaboration is a modern take on the amber ale. All the assertive bitterness from a pale ale but with a touch of chocolate malt to add a sweetness and make it “Not Quite Pale”. Simcoe and Strata DDH hops layer rich, tropical and stone fruit flavours before being dry hopped twice for extra intensity. These hops contribute to an appearance of haze, completing this 5.2% modern amber ale.

It was great to have the Cloudwater team come down to Rain Bar to come and have a first taste. The event was a success with trade customers from not only Manchester but nationally too. We can not wait to do more of these as our collaborations go on.

Next collaboration – North Brewing for September – wait and see what the recipe will be.

Then we are brewing with Thornbridge, Bundobust and Salt with a potential big surprise in late September.

We couldn’t be happier to be collaborating with these amazing breweries, it puts us in the perfect position to roll into our exciting 2023 beer calendar…watch this space!!