Secret beer recipes believed to have been lost almost 25 years ago have been discovered – meaning that classic ales are being brewed once more.

Davenports beer disappeared from pubs in 1986 when the Birmingham brewery shut. But now the Davenports name is alive in Walsall following a takeover of Highgate Brewery, and after an article about the new-look business in the Express & Star, documents containing the long-lost secret ingredients have now been uncovered.

Managing director of the now-named Highgate & Davenports Brewery Bob Norton said he was “gobsmacked” when a man came forward with a box filled with recipes.

“We asked around to see if there were any of the old brewers who could tell us how they used to make Davenports beers,” he said.

“A few people came forward but they could only tell us bits and pieces.

“After an article in the Express & Star we were inundated with memorabilia but we didn’t have the recipes.

But one day a gentleman arrived with a van full of boxes which he had been storing in his attic.”

The Midland-based man who donated the documents was involved in the demolition of the Davenports brewery in Bath Row and had saved some items.

“The offices had been left intact as if the workers had just walked out and left everything as it had been,” said Mr Norton.

“He thought it was a shame to throw everything into the skip and so he saved them, and then passed them on to us.”

The discovery has led the Sandymount Brewery to in- itially produce Davenports Continental Lager, which was one of the first lagers ever produced in England.

But Mr Norton said: “These recipes will remain secret – you live or die by your best recipes.”