Rooster’s Brewing Co. has shared details of the latest beer to be released from its barrel-aged project in the shape of Wild Wild Life [2024], which has been resting oak barrels for the past 15 months.
A 7.0% ABV kettle sour fermented with a saison yeast and aged in French oak barrels for fifteen months, this is the third edition of Wild Wild Life since it became the inaugural beer to be launched from the project in 2021, following Rooster’s expansion in 2019 and relocation to a new site in the brewery’s original hometown of Harrogate.
The original version, aged exclusively in Pinot Noir barrels, was released in keg and bottle and proved to be an instant success. The hand-bottled version of the beer won a gold medal at the 2021 SIBA North East Beer Competition, before picking up a bronze at the 2022 National Competition, while a br onze was also won at the North East Keg Competition in 2022. A second, much smaller, bottle-only release, aged in Chardonnay barrels followed soon after.
Available for the first time in can, as well as keg once again for 2024; the third instalment of the beer is subtly tart and wonderfully balanced, displaying fruity wine characteristics and a hint of spice.
Stuart Goddard, Rooster’s Production Manager, said “Having spent over 15 years in the wine trade, Wild Wild Life is a beer close to my heart. The fabulous fruity, vinous notes are down to the premier cru pinot noir barrels from Burgundy in which our soured saison slumbered for 15 months. It’s definitely a beer to enjoy as we enter into Spring, but is also one that we expect to mature well and be equally enjoyable later in the year too.”
Other beers to have been released from Rooster’s barrel-aged project include, Hello, Dimitri? (a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout), The Garden Of Earthly Delights (a Pinot Noir aged barley wine) and Sidecar (a cocktail sour aged in brandy barrels with fresh orange and lemon peel).
Wild Wild Life [2024] is available to the trade in 440ml cans and 30 litre kegs from February 16th 2024, as well as via Rooster’s web shop (www.roosters.co.uk).
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For further information, please contact Tom Fozard on tom@roosters.co.uk or 01423 222312. Rooster’s Brewing Co. | www.roosters.co.uk
Notes to Editors
About Rooster’s Brewing Co.
Rooster’s Brewing Co. has always been an independent, family-run brewery, focussed on creating quality new world pale ales, with an emphasis on flavour and aroma.
It was established in 1993 by the pioneering brewer Sean Franklin, who developed a new style of beer that had, up to that point, never been tried in the UK before. At a time when most breweries were taking flavour out, Sean was trying to put more in, using imported flavourful hops from the west coast of America.
His pioneering and innovative approach began to turn heads, with Rooster’s flavour-packed beers standing out in a sea of brown beer – with its flagship pale ale, Yankee, leading the way. The awards began to pour in, with Rooster’s beers winning gold medals at the biggest and most renowned international and national beer awards.
Having won pretty much everything there was to win, in 2011 Sean decided to retire and chose to sell the brewery to Ian Fozard and his sons, Tom and Oliver, in a move that ensured Rooster’s would remain a family-owned brewery.
Ian has had an affinity with beer for over forty years, having been an active member of CAMRA since the 1970s and the founder of Market Town Taverns, which grew into a portfolio of 15 bars and pubs across Yorkshire.
Oliver, who has been brewing professionally since 2000, became the head brewer at Rooster’s, and Tom, also an active brewer, became the company’s commercial director. Oliver was awarded Brewer of the Year in December 2020 by the British Guild of Beer Writers.
In 2018, it became clear that Rooster’s was rapidly outgrowing its site in Knaresborough and in 2019 the decision was made to invest in a new state-of-the-art brewery and taproom. Finding the right location, that offered Rooster’s the opportunity to become part of the fabric of the local community wasn’t easy, but the team were delighted when the perfect space became available at Hornbeam Park in Harrogate. Over the course of 2019 and the early part of January 2020, the company created a bespoke, state-ofthe-art facility that it now calls home, in a move that saw it return to the town where Rooster’s was first started some twenty-seven years earlier.
For further information, please contact Tom Fozard on tom@roosters.co.uk or 01423 222312. Rooster’s Brewing Co. | www.roosters.co.uk
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