A beer with a twist has been developed in a mid Norfolk village from a method not usually associated with brewing – steel rivets.

The 7.8pc drink – called A Terrible Beauty is Born – is part of the Extraordinary Beers Project led by the East Anglian Brewers Co-operative made up of 43 breweries.

Set up eight years ago, the project aims to bring together producers, brewers and artists to create distinctive beers, according to co-operative chairman Brendan Moore, who owns the Iceni Brewery near Swaffham.

A Terrible Beauty is Born –named after a William Yeats poem – was made using sun-dried barley from Branthill Farm, near Wells, and was supported by Sunderland University.

Steel rivets from Fransham Forge, in Great Fransham near Dereham, were heated to 1,600C in a furnace and were used to heat up the wort solution for 15 minutes.

Wort is the sugar solution, created from the malting of barley, and the beer has to go through a three stage fermenting process at the Iceni Brewery before it is sold in July.

Mr Moore said using steel rivets was reminiscent of when hot stones were used to brew beer before the Iron Age.

He added: 'The rivets will produce some very intense, caramelised sweet flavours. There is a lot more to beer, just as there is to wine.

'There is a lot more flavour to be had from beer. We want to make the best beers in the world.'

The drink will be put in 500ml stoneware bottles costing �30 at the Real Ale Shop, on Branthill Farm, where only 30 will be sold.

Another 70 bottles will be sold abroad including San Francisco and Rome.

'We are trying to produce really iconic beers in Norfolk rather than relying on produce from abroad,' Mr Moore said.

For more information, ring the Real Ale Shop on 01328 710810 or visit www.therealaleshop.co.uk