EVERY New Year deserves a toast - and a historic North Yorkshire abbey is inviting ale enthusiasts to have a festive tipple, 12th century style.

Rievaulx Abbey, near Helmsley, has launched a new limited edition bottled beer which is a recreation of the ale monks at the site drank hundreds of years ago.

Brother Anthony's Rievaulx Ale has been created by local firm Suddaby's, in conjunction with English Heritage historians, and is brewed at the Spotted Cow Brewery in Selby.

Rievaulx Abbey monks were known to have drunk ale as an alternative to water.

Tony Powell, who plays the Brother Anthony character in tours around the site, said: "We have based the recipe for the brew on the small beer' which was drunk by the Cistercian monks living here.

"The local water was often contaminated with bacteria, so the monks would drink a weak ale which was flavoured with herbs to help with digestion of the tough diet they followed." Like the brew made by the monks, the ale is flavoured with lavender and lemon balm - herbs which are known for their curative properties. The only deviation from the original recipe is the use of hops in the brewing process. These were not used in the 12th century as they had not yet been introduced in England.

The launch of the ale, which is available from Rievaulx Abbey's gift shop, marks the 875th anniversary of the abbey's founding.