Transforming water into wine may be beyond him but a Sussex clergyman is turning beer into money for his parish.

The Reverend Godfrey Broster set up his own micro-brewery to raise funds to run his churches.

With a small population and three historic churches to keep, the rector of Plumpton with East Chiltington considered ways of earning extra income.

Having worked in the brewing industry before becoming a man of the cloth, Godfrey realised where there's booze, there's brass.

So he established Rectory Ales Ltd and it is now the toast of the parish.

Godfrey said: "We have three churches, two medieval and one Victorian.

"In a small downland village with a population of less than 2,000, you need as much money as you can get. One way I thought I could help was to start a brewery which would attract people's attention and could contribute to the upkeep of the parish.

"I was an Excise officer for some years before I was ordained.

"We were taught how to brew so when we actually checked when it was collected at the end of the day, we could be certain it was what they expected to collect.

"The majority of villagers thought the idea was great. A number of them contributed to the original outlay by buying shares.

"Over the years, we have raised about £5,000 for the parish. This has mainly gone towards the general upkeep of the churches."

The business was set up in 1995 in a small unit in Plumpton, producing about 40 barrels a day.It now produces 180 barrels a day.

Rector's Pleasure, at 3.8 per cent, and the 5.4 per cent Rector's Revenge are sold at six pubs in the South-East.

Godfrey said: "I have checked through the Institute of the Guild of Brewers' book and I am the only brewer who is a cleric in the country. If you go to Germany or Belgium, you will find a fair number of clerics, though.

"I find it doesn't interfere with my clerical duties. It is quite separate as I do everything on my day off."

His wife Valerie and their two sons are fully behind his liquid hobby and are fans of his ales.

Mrs Broster said: "Like many women I am not a great beer drinker.

"I cannot drink it in vast quantities like men are supposed to do. When I have the occasional half pint of his brews I like the taste.

"Brewing is just something he does in his spare time as being a rector is a full-time job, especially when you have as many as five funerals a week.

"Brewing is a hobby for him and, like his work for the parishes, he puts a lot into it."

His sons, Sebastian, 17, a pupil at Hurspierpoint College, and Benedict, 20, a student at St Mary's College, Twickenham, are both fans of Rectory Ales.

Benedict, an up-and-coming player with the rugby union side Saracens, is hoping he will soon be toasting an outing in the Saracens first team with his father's special brews.