Yorkshire breweries are set to roll out barrels of special Victorian brew to be supped at the Saltaire Festival.

Up to ten brewers from across the county have risen to the challenge to create a 19th Century ale as part of the celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the birth of the village's founder, Sir Titus Salt, the 150th anniversary of Salts Mill and Saltaire's recently acquired World Heritage status.

The vintage beer will be tasted by a panel of judges including Nick Salt, a direct descendant of Sir Titus, who is travelling from Wales. They will comment on the creations on Friday, September 19 at 1pm in the York Rooms in Victoria Hall, Victoria Road.

Festival organiser Eddie Lawler said the celebrations included the village's annual beer festival, organised by the Bradford branch of CAMRA.

"This was an excellent opportunity to encourage the breweries to have a go at recreating a beer of 1853, or Victorian times, and it will be exciting to sample what is on offer," he said. "Many people assumed Sir Titus was a teetotaller because in his model village he did not build a pub, but there was an off-licence, which he owned, and he also had one of the best wine cellars in Yorkshire."

Mr Lawler said there would not be an overall winner. The aim was to give people a true taste of the era.

Dave Sanders, of Elland-based brewery Eastwood and Sanders, said he was taking along his 1872 Porter, a 6.5 per cent black ale. "It's strong and dark and has quite a luscious, chocolatey taste," he said.

"The recipe was found in an old brewing book and although it's not from 1853 it's very similar to what would have been drunk at that time."

The beer festival starts on September 18, from noon to 11pm.