Lockdown has taken a new twist with beers using Hull’s iconic stay-at-home Sunday dinner staples selling out hours after launch.
Aunt Bessie’s Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and jam roly poly are the headline acts in a new two-course session from Leeds-based Northern Monk.
The rapid growth independent brewer headed across the M62 for the industry first, running dry during an Easter launch as it looked to spread positivity by the pint.
Now it is to be stocked by trade customers, with deliveries landing in selected beer retailers and stockists in the next couple of days.
The Yorkshire firms have been working for months to create the unique liquid lunch.
Founder of Northern Monk, Russell Bisset, said: “It’s been an honour working with Aunt Bessie’s, a truly iconic northern brand. There’s nothing quite like a Sunday roast with all the trimmings, and on a weekend where we’d usually be getting together with our families for a traditional Sunday dinner, we brought forward something a little different. We’ve worked together to create something that’s never been done before, and we hope that it brings some well-needed positivity to the nation.”
The beers have been brewed at Northern Monk’s Leeds brewery. Sunday Dinner, a 5.7 per cent brown ale, is brewed with actual Aunt Bessie’s Crisp & Fluffy Roasties and Original Golden Yorkshires.
Jam Roly Poly, a 5 per cent pale ale, is a recipe inspired by the Aunt Bessie’s product of the same name, and is brewed with plum, apricot and strawberry – the same fruits used at the Freightliner Road factory, along with custard to “round out the flavours”.
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Sam Dolan, head of marketing at Aunt Bessie’s - launched in 1995 by Hull’s William Jackson Food Group and now part of Birds Eye-owning Nomad Foods – said: “There’s nothing like coming together with loved ones over a roast dinner and a cold beer, and so to join forces with a fellow northern brand to create something which has never been done before is really special. We’re sure Aunt Bessie’s fans are going to love the combination of a two-course roast dinner beer and as we celebrate Aunt Bessie’s 25th birthday this year, what better way to mark the occasion?”
The food and drink combo comes as a further Yorkshire collaboration prepares something for a little later in the evening - barrel-aged beer.
Sibling businesses Wold Top Brewery and Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery have launched Swell, a limited edition dark beer that has been matured for 11 months in casks that held spirit at the county's first single malt whisky distillery.
"Swell has been brewed specifically for barrel-aging, the recipe developed to hold the flavours from the casks without being overwhelmed. It's rich, fruity and full of flavour. With an ABV of 12 per cent, it's a beer to be savoured," said Wold Top's brewery manager, Alex Balchin.
"When in the cask, the beer picks up flavours from the spirit that's been in there before, as well as some of the ‘woody' flavours from the cask itself. In our case, we're using ex-maturing malt casks which had also held bourbon and sherry and wine, so this means the beer is picking up lots of the whisky and wood flavours, making it taste really different.
"By spending 11 months in the wooden casks - most barrel-aged beers spend at least six months in casks - a really rounded flavour is achieved."
Limited to 6,000 330ml bottles, Swell is available online at and from independent local retailers including Sewell On The Go convenience stores while stocks last.
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It is the first in the Ebb and Flow series of barrel-aged beers from Wold Top Brewery, with future releases to explore different styles of beer, matured in different whisky cask types, all coming from the Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery.
Wold Top Brewery was founded by in 2003 and is located on the Mellor family farm at Hunmanby Grange, between Driffield and Filey. The team use home grown barley and water from the farm's borehole to produce a range of cask, keg and bottled beers that are available throughout Yorkshire and nationwide.
Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery is a collaboration between Wold Top farmer and brewer, Tom Mellor and business partner, David Thompson.