BEER-LOVING pop queen Madonna has turned to the Yorkshire Dales to find her perfect Christmas tipple.

The 47-year-old star will celebrate the festive period with her family, friends, and nearly 300 pints of Folly Ale. The beer is produced at Wharfedale Brewery, in Rylstone, near Skipton.

It is described by the company as a "traditional, full-bodied Yorkshire Bitter" with a "rich, smooth, malty flavour and fresh after-bitterness".

Madonna announced her love for real ale in an interview with Jonathan Ross two years ago.

She was introduced to the drink by her husband, Guy Ritchie, and developed a taste for it during hunting weekends.

Earlier this year, she had 72-pint firkins of Timothy Taylor's Landlord bitter delivered to her Wiltshire home. It is brewed in Keighley, West Yorkshire.

She has now had at least four casks of Folly Ale delivered.

Wharfedale master brewer Adam Witek said: "It has been great for everyone who works here to have such a high-profile person drinking it. She has already expressed a preference for Yorkshire beers. When she mentioned drinking Timothy Taylor, it must have sent their sales through the roof."

The brewery has been operating for two years, but its ales have already built up a national following.

Folly Ale beat more than 140 regional and national beers in the Keighley and Craven Beer Festival - the first competition it entered.

"In North Yorkshire, there are more micro breweries than anywhere else in the country," Mr Witek said.