A bottle of beer fished from a wreck after 220 years and its unusual fate

Australian scientists have managed to recreate the liquor found on a wreck that is 220 years old! The ship “Sydney Cove” was on its way from Calcutta to Sydney when it sank near Tasmania in February 1797 with a cargo of over 26 thousand litres of alcohol. Thanks to suitable conditions on the bottom in the place where the ship sank, some of the yeast survived and it was possible to try to recreate the age-old liquor. The ship itself is the eighth oldest known wreck in Australian waters and the first merchant vessel to sink after the establishment of a British colony in Sydney in 1788.

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After the ship sank, most of the crew and a large part of the cargo managed to be rescued, but part of it disappeared under the surface of the water for more than two centuries. This included a supply of golden liquor, so valuable to the settlers of the time. 220 years under the surface of the sea bed and a layer of vegetation, surprisingly, allowed the organic substances – including yeast – to remain in excellent condition. So it’s no wonder that the possibility of recreating beer has fired up scientists’ heads – after all, it’s the oldest known yeast in the world!

For scientists in Australia, the found cargo is a true chemical time capsule. Thanks to current possibilities, it is possible to recreate the flavours enjoyed by the first settlers in the land of the kangaroo from recovered ingredients and using preserved recipes.

“The yeast from the shipwreck is an unusual tri-mix of yeasts used by bakers, brewers and distillers,” explained conservationist David Thurrowgood, “It is completely different from the hundreds of yeasts we compared it to that are currently used in Australia and around the world.”

And what did beer actually taste like in the late 18th century? – “It’s surprisingly light and refreshing,” researchers from the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Australia agree.

Museum staff are now looking to raise funds to try and recreate other historic beers. The yeast from the Sydney Cove wreck is probably the only one left from before the Industrial Revolution.

The work on the wreck of the “Sydney Cove” was carried out in 1991-94. Apart from beer bottles, it was possible to recover wines, strong spirits, tobacco, textiles and ink. In the museum everyone associates the remains of the ship, precisely with the excellently preserved delicate organic materials, which were not preserved on other vessels from the same period. In this respect, the wreck from around Tasmania is truly unique.

According to unconfirmed information, after recreating beer from 220 years ago, the next similar project is to repeat this art with red wine.

Source: ctvnews.ca, abc.net.au