DUNBAR is getting ready to say ‘cheers’ to its favourite son – in more ways than one!

The John Muir Way opens next Monday (April 21) with First Minister Alex Salmond opening the 134-mile route in Muir’s hometown.

Celebrations – from singing to poetry and a nine-foot giant – will mark the occasion, and now adults are being offered the chance to quench their thirst with a specially made ale.

Wilderness Ale is the brainchild of Russell Sharp, the founder of Edinburgh’s Caledonian Brewery.

He said: “It’s a wee bit different.

“It goes way back to 1970.

“I used to do a lot of climbing and there were some Americans coming over who wanted to go climbing.

“The guys had climbed in Yosemite Valley on some striking rock faces.” One of those included El Capitan, a vertical rock formation which extends to about 3,000 feet (900m).

One of the routes was christened Muir Wall in 1965, and when Russell asked why it was named after John Muir he received a lengthy story about the Dunbar-born naturalist’s impact on US shores.

Russell said: “That was the start of it and when I was at Caledonian Brewery I fancied doing it.” However, he was keen for the special drink to be brewed closer to Muir’s home and it was only when he retired a couple of years ago that the plan became a reality.

A television programme about Scotland’s great explorers brought up Muir and, after a little encouragement from his wife, Myra, Russell knew it was time for the beer to be brewed.

He took the plans to the town’s Belhaven Brewery, which agreed to help create the new beer.

Now, Sugarpine Brewing Co, named after Muir’s favourite tree, the Sugar Pine, has been set up to create and market the special drink.

Russell said: “I asked Belhaven if they could brew a beer to fulfil my wish and they agreed.

“Although I had an outline of how the beer should look, taste and smell it was a combined effort with their brewers George Howell and Alan McLaren and myself to develop the recipe.

“It was brewed last week and is now going on sale and is a limited edition at this time.

“We are all extremely pleased with the flavour and appearance and it combines Belhaven artisan well water, East Lothian barley and three varieties of American hops to give a four per cent ABV cask beer.” Russell also paid tribute to Shelagh Bryce, from Belhaven Brewery, who works in the telesales department, and said a lot of work had gone into the project.

The new beer is described as “a nice golden colour, with a sweet hop flavour”.

However, that is not the end of the journey.

A future version of Wilderness Ale could follow in Muir’s footsteps and make the journey from Dunbar to California and the west coast of America, where the famous conservationist settled.

Russell added: “My real aim is to make a reasonable go of it and make a bottled beer in the US, where he is revered.

“You can stop anybody in California or the west coast and you would get the same story I got about John Muir – there is a potential market for it out there.”