EDWARDIAN brewers toasted the safe return of North-East troops from the Boer War by producing a commemorative beer.

One hundred years later, Double Maxim, the region's oldest surviving brown ale, is still going strong.

To mark the milestone, the Double Maxim Beer Company has produced a centenary bottle and label for the beer, which for its first 98 years was a flagship of Sunderland's former Vaux Breweries.

Fittingly, the Mayor of Sunderland, Councillor Ken Murray, was presented with the first of 300,000 individually numbered limited edition bottles of Double Maxim, at the city's National Glass Centre yesterday.

The changing face of packaging design can be seen in a display at the glass centre, including an original 1901 Maxim Ale bottle.

It was initially produced to herald victory in the Boer War, and specifically the safe return from South Africa of the Northumberland Hussars' maxim gun detachment, commanded by a member of the brewery family, Major Ernest Vaux.

By July 1938, the strength was increased and it was renamed Double Maxim.

Package design altered over the years, but it remained a popular Vaux product, with sales exceeding £40m between 1994 and 1998, making it one of the leading ale brands in the North.

However, the brewery closure in July 1999 appeared to signal the demise of Double Maxim.

Eyeing an opportunity, former Vaux directors Doug Trotman and Mark Anderson bought the rights to Double Maxim from Whitbread, which had taken over the brewery's parent Swallow group.

They enlisted former Vaux head brewer Jim Murray who ensured the original recipe survived, even though it is now produced and packaged at Robinson's Brewery, in Stockport.

In its first year since resurrection, more than £500,000 worth of sales have been generated, and more than 50,000 cases drunk.

Deals have been struck with supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda, pub groups Pubmaster and Enterprise Inns. Double Maxim also appears in some independent pubs through suppliers Bass Breweries and Beer Seller.

The first exports were recently dispatched to the US and the Falkland Islands, and others are also planned.

Mr Trotman said: "We have been overwhelmed by the response since the relaunch.

"Sales have grown rapidly, and we are confident that we will double current sales to £1m and 100,000 cases within the next two years.

"We wanted to mark this important landmark in Double Maxim's history with a special bottle, which I am sure will become a collectors' item."