Yorkshire cricket legend and Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) Patron Geoffrey Boycott OBE, has put his name to a new beer brewed by Leeds Brewery to mark this summer’s Cricket World Cup, and to raise vital funds for the much loved rapid-response Charity.
The 3.6% pale ale, available in casks and bottles, has been created by Leeds Brewery and is brewed using some of the finest ingredients Yorkshire has to offer. Available for sale now, 25p from every bottle and 25p from every pint sold will be donated to the YAA.
Mr Boycott commented: “The Brewery approached me and asked if I’d be interested in creating a new ale with them for the Cricket World Cup. I’ve never put my name to anything like this before in all my career, so I said that I’d want them to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance with proceeds from any sales. I’m a Patron of the Charity and very proud to support them by helping raise as much money as I can.
I’m absolutely delighted with the results – although I’m not a big beer drinker, I’ve sampled it and it was lovely, very easy to drink! And the packaging is fantastic, capturing me at my finest and doing what I love. I hope everyone will get behind the beer and buy it to help us raise lots of money.”
Rob Warriner, Head Brewer from Leeds Brewery explained a little more about the beer: “We wanted to create a refreshing and well balanced session ale using the finest ingredients from Yorkshire, and we’re delighted with the results. The beer is easy drinking & very pleasant on the palette. We hope people will enjoy drinking it as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it.”
To support the launch of the beer, an advertising campaign will hit some of the big screens in Leeds over the next few weeks to promote the beer and the partnership. The ‘Enjoyed slowly, very slowly’ campaign, will be seen on screens in the Trinity Shopping Centre and at other locations in the City. The concept has been devised by London based creative agency Heavenly Group, with support from Ocean Outdoor who have all given their time and advertising space free of charge,
Initially available for the summer, the culmination of the sales of Boycott’s Best will see a live event at Weetwood Hotel, Leeds on Thursday 24th October where Geoffrey will host an event including a dinner following by a live Q&A session with him, detailing his career and experiences.
Abby Barmby, Director of Marketing & Communications added: “We’re delighted to be involved with both Geoffrey and Leeds Brewery regarding Boycotts Best – we are grateful to all involved for their generosity towards the YAA. As an independent Charity, we have to raise £12,000 per day to keep both of our helicopters in the air and helping to save lives. We rely on the generosity of the people of Yorkshire, like Geoffrey and Leeds Brewery to help us raise these vital monies. We would love to see the beer in as many outlets as possible!”
Boycott’s Best is available to buy both wholesale and by the general public. All enquiries about stocking the beer, or the event at Weetwood Hall in October should be directed to rob@leedsbrewery.co.uk
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance provides a life-saving rapid response emergency service 365 days a year to 5 million people across 4 million acres of Yorkshire. They fly 7 days per week, 365 days per week covering the region with two state-of-the-art Airbus H145 helicopters.
Leeds Brewery was established in June 2007 and has since become the largest brewery in the city. They use only the finest possible ingredients, including malted barley sourced entirely from the UK and their unique Yorkshire yeast, meaning their beers are some of the finest available. Today the brewery produces over 125,000 pints a week with a beer range which encompasses a vast array of styles and flavours which are available in cask, keg and bottles all across the country.