Archaeologists and divers exploring a 162-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Dover have discovered a cargo of bottled Guinness beer, according to The Irish Times.
Diver Stefan Panis said up to two dozen bottles of the Irish stout were found on the sailing barge Mindora, which sank on November 27, 1864, after colliding with another vessel while traveling from London to Vancouver. Panis said the bottles, along with crates of pickled vegetables and other cargo, lay hidden under sand about five kilometers offshore until changing currents exposed them last summer. He noted that water temperatures of four degrees Celsius, high pressure, and complete darkness created ideal conditions to preserve the contents of the bottles.
Project Jurassic Beer
The discovery inspired divers and researcher Pawel Truszynski to launch Project Jurassic Beer to recreate the stout flavor based on the original 1864 recipe. They recruited Kevin Verstrepen, a professor of microbiology and genetics at the University of Leuven, to analyze the material. Verstrepen said that while live yeast cells are unlikely to be recovered from the bottles, DNA analysis will allow him to use a modern relative of the yeast to match the original taste.
The research team has contacted the Guinness archive team at the St. James's Gate brewery in Dublin to verify historical data. A representative of Diageo Ireland confirmed that the company's archive department is interacting with the divers. Truszynski said that if they succeed in recreating the beer, they will open a form of liquid time travel.
Yeast research precedents
The project follows similar scientific efforts with historical micro-organisms, including an experiment where Italian scientists recovered yeast from the gut of a 5,300-year-old mummy named Otzi, also known as the Iceman, and used it to bake bread.
