Tropical flavours from Yardsman Brewery in Northern Ireland

Yardsman, the Northern Irish beers and stout range, now features a new Tropical American Rye Ale in bottles and kegs. The brewery producing the Yardsman range, based in Belfast, has also lined up a distributor to grow its business in the Republic of Ireland.

The new Tropical Rye Ale (5%ABV) uses American citra and cascade hops for a lighter, fruity flavour and aroma, which Yardsman founder and managing director Niall McMullan describes as having hints of passionfruit and mango.

"I've been considering using these distinctive hops for some time to create a lighter pale ale," he says. "Feedback from taste tests has been very positive and immensely encouraging. It's a beer designed to appeal to a very broad range of consumers."

As well as kegs, Yardsman is producing the new beer in traditional 500ml bottles.

The brewery, located in the city's Titanic Quarter, has a strong base in Northern Ireland and is targeting Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland for further growth. It recently signed a distribution agreement with Drinks Inc. in Belfast to help grow sales in the Republic.

Mr McMullan continues: "We are delighted to expand the Yardsman range with our new Tropical American Rye Ale and to take our first steps into the Republic of Ireland.

"Over the last year, we've added some four new beer styles and won several important awards, including a gold and three silver medals at the World Beer Challenge, a Great Taste Award and a silver medal at Blas Na hEireann. So we're delighted with the success of Yardsman and indeed the vibrancy of craft beer revolution in Northern Ireland."

The company has also increased production capacity by installing a second brewhouse at its production plant in Belfast.

Yardsman is the beer and stout brand developed by Mr McMullan, a drinks industry veteran, with over 25 years' experience, having worked previously with Molson Coors and Diageo.

Mr McMullan established Hercules Brewing Company in 2012 to create a portfolio of beers reflecting the heritage of Belfast as a global engineering centre especially in shipbuilding and aircraft production as well as textiles. The first batches of Yardsman craft beers were brewed in 2014.