AN AWARD-winning Melksham brewery has produced its first organic ale for Britain's greenest festival, the Sunrise Celebration, in Somerset.

But a European Union technicality looks like thwarting the brewery's first attempt to market the ale at the four-day festival, which starts on Friday.

The Sunrise Celebration Ale has been brewed by Moles Brewery, of Melksham, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and was due to be sold in Biopack corn starch compostable glasses which fit with the festival's green credentials.

However, Somerset County Council trading standards chiefs have poured cold water on the enterprise by declaring the glasses cannot be used because they do not carry an EU stamp.

Sunrise director Sun Bird said: "We are extremely disappointed as only recently Government Minister David Miliband was quite vocal in calling on councils to make more of an effort to reduce waste in their areas.

"The Sunrise Celebration bar is 100 per cent organic and knowing how authorities love statistics, we will now be calculating the additional carbon this decision will cost the planet, as well as the fact that the glasses will now have to be land-filled instead of composted, and we will put it on a sign behind the bar.

"The contentious issue (with the glasses) is the size although the glasses are clearly marked and measured with the right capacity, with 4oz extra to allow for the head of the beer, fulfilling all the required criteria."

Sunrise Celebration Ale is brewed with organic pale and crystal malts, and a complex blend of organic hops, giving the ale an underlying malty character, with bitter/sweet characteristics, and a mouth-pleasing finish.

Moles Brewery founder and managing director Roger Catte is planning to launch the Sunrise Celebration Ale across the country after the festival ends.