Harrogate-based Rooster’s Brewing Co is celebrating a milestone anniversary for Yankee, its flagship pale ale, which was released 30 years ago.
Hatched in 1993, at a time when most ales on the market were brown, Rooster’s fast developed a reputation for brewing ground-breaking, hop-forward pale ales that showcase exciting new hops from the USA.
Yankee, named in recognition of its ground-breaking use of Cascade hops, soon started to attract the attention of judges at beer festivals across the UK, racking up countless awards.
First brewed by Rooster’s founding brewer, Sean Franklin, in 1993, Yankee revolutionised British craft brewing by introducing drinkers to new hop varieties from the USA. In doing so, it developed a new style of pale ale.
With a light and refreshing character, Yankee showcases the magnificent floral and citrus fruit aromas of the Cascade hop, sourced from the Yakima Valley in Washington State, USA. This is projected against a backdrop of soft Yorkshire water and Golden Promise pale malt.
To commemorate 30 years of Yankee and to tie in with Independence Day, Rooster’s is offering 30% off the beer via its website for today only, using the code YANKEE30. This discount applies to cans, mini-casks, mini-kegs, and bags in boxes, subject to availability, and will run until 11.59pm.
Still going strong and winning awards three decades later, Yankee holds a special place in the hearts of beer lovers across generations.
As Tom Fozard, Rooster’s commercial director, states in Matthew Curtis’s book, Modern British Beer: “Yankee is enjoyed by people now in their sixties and seventies who have been drinking it for several decades, as much as it is by younger drinkers who are setting out on their voyage of beer discovery. It’s a modern pale ale that’s capable of being both a gateway beer and a conjurer of Proustian memories.”
In the broader context of brewing history in the UK, Yankee’s impact cannot be overstated. Its early use of American hops paved the way for the evolution of a vibrant landscape of modern British brewing, that has grown and developed beyond Rooster’s and across the industry as a whole.
Since taking over the brewery from Franklin in 2011, the Fozard family, who continued Rooster’s legacy of being an independent family-owned business, have upheld the rich legacy of the flagship beer, with the dedication and passion invested in this iconic beer resulting in a series of notable achievements over the years.
Previously only ever available in cask, Rooster’s became one of the breweries in the UK to invest in a canning line in 2014 and included Yankee as part of its early foray into the small pack market in January 2015, simultaneously releasing the beer in keg for the first time too.
Since winning its first award in 1994, Yankee has continued to scoop major accolades and in recent years won a silver award in the keg category at the International Brewing Awards in 2017, as well as gold at the SIBA National Beer Competition in 2019.
In 2018, it was nominated, shortlisted, and ultimately crowned product of the year at the revered Yorkshire Life Food & Drink Awards.
