DASH it - let's have a boozy column today. So what can we tell you? Well, the beermeisters over at Knaresborough's Rooster's Brewery (Brewster's Rewery when you've had a few) certainly have something to crow about.

Sean Franklin is cock-a-hoop after returning from the United States where he put Yorkshire on the map with a gold medal from the brewing equivalent of the Olympic Games.

His renowned Yorkshire Pale Ale won the gold in the Summer Ale category in the bi-annual World Brewing Industry Awards in Seattle.

The awards alternate between England and America, and Rooster's now has the rare distinction of having won medals in both countries.

Competition was hot in the two-day event as 97 judges quaffed their way through more than 2,000 entries. Hic.

Sean, who founded his brewery 12 years ago, reckons the secret of success lies in the hops. Treat 'em properly, he says, and it brings out the fruity, floral smells.

So did he over-imbibe to celebrate his worldwide win? "I don't drink much," he confided to the Diary. "I probably taste 40 beers a week, but drink less than two pints."

What a shocking confession.

CONTINUING this bleary-eyed theme, the ancient monks at Byland Abbey had a lot to answer for.

Historians believe they secretly brewed their own ale - so the Abbey Inn at neighbouring Coxwold has added "a new taste of Yorkshire" to its drinks menu with the launch of an exclusive new beer, Byland Brew.

The new ale is the creation of Malton-based brewery, Suddaby's, and has been developed exclusively for the Abbey Inn.

We understand the brew, with a fruity, hoppy flavour, is already proving very popular with locals and visitors alike.

No doubt the spectacular ruins of Byland Abbey just across the road from the pub will take on a new beauty as drinkers view them through their beer goggles.

Closer to home, The Diary hears of management changes at one back-to-front York pub, where the bouncers now run the bar, serve the drinks and do their best to keep customers in, not out.

The new licensee of the Waggon And Horses, in Lawrence Street, is Jim Slater - who also manages a York-based security firm - while bar manager Chris Elmer is himself a former bouncer. The paperwork went through last week, and the pair are already planning to turn around the once-struggling pub, with cask ales and a much-needed refurbishment.

Unsurprisingly, since it reopened, there have been no reports of any booze-fuelled trouble.

And who's going to provide security at the pub? "I think we'll go in-house," says 29-year-old Chris. "We can handle it."

Chris, who moved into bar management because he "thought it would be safer", is hoping to put together snooker and darts teams. Troublemakers need not apply.

Talking of booze, the Diary thinks Chief Reporter Mike Laycock must have been imbibing before scribing a piece in yesterday's column about Coun Quentin Macdonald. In it he told how York council leader Steve Galloway wrongly spelled his own executive member's name, missing out the "a" in the Mac. True enough, but Mike managed to give Quentin a big "D" in the Donald, when there is, in fact, a small "d". The silly burgher says sorry, Quentin.

Updated: 09:33 Tuesday, April 25, 2006