Revellers enjoying the recent feast of entertainment at the Cornish Arms Fools Festival in Hayle might have been forgiven for thinking that the bottles of old Ellis Original on the bar were all part of the fun – it being April and all.

It is well known that the last drop of Ellis was brewed back in 1934 when the family-owned brewery became part of a larger Cornish family outfit, St Austell Brewery. While MD Christopher Ellis went on to join the board at St Austell, the distinctive yellow and red labels of the Ellis ales were consigned to history.

However, those lucky enough to try a sample of the beer down at the Cornish Arms would have realised they were in fact the real deal, brewed to mark a special occasion in the modern history of the Ellis family, the marriage of Christopher Ellis’ great great grandson and namesake, Chris Stephens.

Crafted by St Austell’s brewing director Roger Ryman on the Small Batch Brewery after an original recipe gleaned from the pages of the historic Ellis journals, the ale went down a storm at the reception to celebrate the marriage of Chris and Rachel at St Peter’s Church at Ugborough.

However, having enjoyed the special brew on his wedding day, Chris decided it was only fair that he and his father Paul should take some bottles back to the Cornish Arms - the original Ellis Brewery Tap - to celebrate its historic link to the family during the pub’s weekend festival.

The moment was a particularly poignant one for Devoran-based Paul, who has spent many years working to preserve and keep the heritage of the Ellis family alive, whose business interests started in Hayle as far back as 1815.

Sampling the ale in its historic home, Chris said, “We were absolutely thrilled when Roger agreed to brew the Ellis Original for our special day. I think everyone was amazed at how good it tasted and it just felt right to bring it back down here with my father to celebrate a little bit of our family history.”

Landlady Claire Williams, who took a break from getting the pub ready for the weekend’s successful festivities, was joined by Cornish beer writer and journalist Darren Norbury in giving a massive thumbs up to the brew, while samples were also left for locals to try as part of the pub’s wider beer festival.

Commenting on the brew, Mr Ryman said: “It’s always a treat to be able to use historic recipes and to try to make them work in the modern day. Having the Small Batch allows us to be creative and work on special brews like this one and, while we have brewed one or two Ellis ales in the past to mark anniversaries, it’s a real pleasure to be able to give someone such a fantastic gift on their wedding day.”

While the old Ellis Original was a one-off, spares were available through the brewery’s online shop and from the visitor centre which sold out in record time.