Beer sales may be falling across the board but one emerging microbrewery hopes the patron saint of Glasgow could become the unlikely saviour of the nation's drinking habits. The West Brewery in Glasgow, has produced the St Mungo lager in homage to the saint, whose brotherhood used to brew their own beer and serve the "liquid bread" to the poor and sickly people of the Clydeside community.

Petra Wetzel, 34, owner of The West Brewery, said: "It occurred to us that we would like to brew a true Glasgow lager and basically honour a fellow brewer and pay homage to St Mungo. It is a beer that Glasgow can be truly proud of." Head brewer Matt Doswell, 24, started work on the formula for St Mungo in February.

"They say in Glasgow that the water is the softest thing. There is an awful lot of water (around here) and we may as well do something good with it. You could say the water is blessed," he said.

Father Marius Donelly, of The Church of St Mungo in Townhead, said the names of saints were often used by towns and football clubs and that "you couldn't stop" someone taking their name for a beer. He added: "I dont think people need to associate drinking with saints to make it popular."

Figures released by the British Beer and Pub Association this week show beer sales have gone down by 7%, but microbreweries are showing a strong growth in the market.