CREW members of HMS Monmouth are enjoying a taste of the home county thanks to a Wye Valley brewery.

Kingstone Brewery at Tintern produced the Black Duke Ale at the request of crew members who visited the brewery.

Edward Biggs, one of the micro-brewery's partners, and head brewer Mark Gardner, took 70 cases to the Monmouth at Plymouth last week where it is undergoing a major refit.

Each case contains 12 bottles of the specially-brewed 4.5 ABV (alcohol by volume) beer which Mr described as "ruby red, quite smooth and hoppy".

Mr Biggs said: "When they came here they tried a few of our beers and they really enjoyed the classic bitter but they wanted it a bit more floral.

"As it's tied to Monmouthshire they asked if we could make an ale for them and we came up with a recipe that was a bit more floral."

Kingstone produces a range of beers but the brew for HMS Monmouth is one of a number of one-off specials – such as the one for the Monmouth raft race.

The back of the bottle features the battle honours of ships that have carried the name HMS Monmouth.

The name Black Duke refers to James, Duke of Monmouth, who unsuccessfully rebelled against his uncle King James II in 1685.

The Type 23 frigate is affectionately known as the Black Duke and flies a black flag in addition to the White Ensign – since the Duke of Monmouth's title was dissolved after the rebellion and his coat of arms blacked out.

HMS Monmouth went for her refit at the beginning of 2014 and has seen a significant amount of structural work to her superstructure, which has included approximately 17 tonnes of new steel covering an area of 220 square metres.

When the work is completed she will return to sea for trials with training taking place later this year.

Before going for refit the ship spent seven months in the Arabian Gulf on anti-piracy duties.