MASSEY'S beer is back - 23 years after the old Burnley brewery closed.

Made to a traditional recipe with the same ingredients and in the original vats, the ale has gone on sale in six local pubs.

Those who have tasted it say it's unlike any modern bitter - and just as good as it was in the old days.

Brewers Bass, who took over Massey's in the 1970s, dug the recipe out from their archives at their museum in Burton, which also houses the old equipment - some of it 50 years old - now being used to brew the beer.

It's made the same way, which means the ale cannot be mass produced - so supplies are limited.

Licensees from Burnley visited the museum to see the master brewer in action - and bumped into Massey's retired head brewer, Ian Fyfe, who lives in Burton and was also there to rekindle memories of the 60s.

When they came to taste the ale, they could hardly believe their taste buds.

"This stuff is nectar," says Les Harrison, landlord of the Coal Clough. "It's the best thing to happen to drinkers in years. It has a wonderful bitter taste which you don't get anymore.

"It has a similar texture and colour to the old Massey's, but it's a bit stronger - 4.1%.

"It was lovely to talk to the former head brewer and the new master brewer. He loves his work and controls everything from buying the ingredients to sampling the finished product."

Massey's is on sale at The Coal Clough, The Waggoners and The Jester in Burnley, The Crown and The North Valley in Colne, and The Boar's Head in Newchurch, Rossendale.

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