Regulars at a village pub will be toasting the start of the 21st century with a tipple brewed in the 19th.

The long-lost ale - bottled in 1897 - has been donated to the Half Moon Inn at Pool-in-Wharfedale, near Otley, by regular Dr Jeff Ellison, formerly chief chemist at the William Younger brewery in Edinburgh.

Majority ales were produced by the brewery to celebrate the birth of new members of the Younger family with several hundred bottles presented to the youngsters when they reached 21 - the age of majority.

Most of the beer would have been drunk during the birthday celebrations but the bottle from 1897 has survived, although it is not known which member of the family it was brewed for.

Mr Ellison was given the bottle about 40 years ago after several were found in a laboratory at the William Younger brewery.

And on New Year's Eve, Half Moon manager Steve Morris will be cracking open the corked bottle of 10.5 per cent proof William Younger Majority Ale and sharing it among a group of invited regulars.

He said: "With the new Millennium coming we thought this would be the ideal time to crack it open - I can't think of a better way to end the century and celebrate the Millennium than with a 100-year-old beer.

"The bottle only contains half a pint so there'll just be enough for a tipple in a sherry glass for everyone.

"It's not known whether there are any other bottles of this still in existence and it could be really valuable but the value doesn't really matter - it's as a celebratory thing that it's worth more.

"Jeff and I drew off a few mils with a hypodermic needle and it tastes very nice.

"Originally it would have been like an Old Peculiar-type ale but now it has a Madeira wine-like quality - very sweet and strong but still very palatable.''

Dr Ellison, 73, of Pool, said: "I'd had it for years and years and was keeping it for a special occasion but nothing seemed special enough.

"Then on the spur of the moment I decided the Millennium's pretty special. I thought an old beer brewed in the last century fitted in well with an old fashioned village pub like the Half Moon.''

Although it is labelled 1897 it was possible fermentation began up to 18 years earlier.

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