Finnish scientists say it could be possible to recreate the 170-year-old beer found alongside what is thought to be the world’s oldest drinkable Champagne in an Åland shipwreck. Analysis of the bottles’ content found living bacteria that could be enough to brew another batch of the ancient ale.
Although she admitted that the booze had “not stood the test of time well”, Annika Wilhelmson, from the VTT technical research centre of Finland, told Reuters that, “Based on the chemical analysis we made of the beer and with help from a master brewer, it would be possible to try to make beer that would resemble it as much as possible.”
The beer, which is said to be golden in colour with hints of cloves, almond and rose, was found by divers in 2010. The boat is thought to have sunk in 1840 off the autonomous Åland Islands.
The Champagne found onboard caused great excitement among collectors, with the bottles eventually selling at auction to a Russian restaurateur for EUR 54,000.