BOLTON independent brewer John Feeney, left, is planning to go back to the future with an historic brewing experiment.

And if it works Bolton could be home to the beer with the oldest origin in Britain and possibly even the world.

In co-operation with an archaeology student with a passion for beer John's Bank Top Brewery aims to brew an ancient beer using samples of the oldest known barley in the UK.

The idea of using ancient ingredients hit the headlines earlier this year when Cambridge University students created a brew with yeast dating back to Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, backed by Scottish and Newcastle brewery.

Now Manchester University student Merryn Dineley is working with John in a bid to create a drinkable ale brewed with the ancient Bere Barley. The experiment is part of Merryn's project, titled Brewing Technologies in Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain.

The barley can only be found on the remote Orkney Islands and is believed to date back as far as 1,500BC - older than Tutankhamun, who dates back to 1,338BC.

John has already got a number of Bolton pubs ready and willing to serve the historic ale if the experiment works.

The ancient brewing method involves barley, water and yeast, but no hops because hops only came into the process in medieval times.

Merryn and her husband are currently working on a small scale home brew version of the beer. Providing those results are promising, John will then get to work on the recipe at his brewery at Back Lane near the town centre.

He said: "It's very interesting. I hope it works out, we'll just have to wait and see."

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