162-year-old Guinness bottle found in shipwreck that could reveal original recipe

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Scientists are hoping to recreate the taste of Guinness as it was brewed in the 1860s after divers recovered a 162-year-old bottle from a shipwreck off the coast of England.

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The bottle, which dates back to 1864, was discovered by Belgian underwater photographer Stefan Panis while exploring a wreck off Dover. Researchers are now analyzing its contents to see if they can recover enough DNA from the beer to produce an authentic recreation of the original stout.

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Following the discovery, samples from the bottle were sent to microbiologists at KU Leuven University in Belgium for analysis, the BBC reported.

“There is always a chance that we can recover the complete DNA, and then we can do a small re-brew of the exact beer that was found in the 1860s,” Panis said.

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But there may be an even more intriguing possibility.

"There is a possibility that it's still drinkable. The question is if the sea water has come into the bottles through the corks.

"If not, most likely the beer would still be drinkable."

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In an Instagram post, Panis said, “We sent the bottle photos to the official Guinness club, and brewing historian Edward Bourke dropped this atomic info:

“That is bottled by Cameron Saunders of London… beer was sent over in Butts for bottling locally… There is something about keeping the bottles upside down as found because seawater ingress won’t happen in that position – lore from the Scotch wreck on Rathlin”

“Finding them upside down was the single secret to survival! Edward cited the SS Lochgarry wreck (1942). Upright bottles were ruined; upside-down bottles stayed perfect because the trapped air bubble creates a pressurized barrier blocking seawater.”

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