Twenty years ago, a team of divers found the wreck of the Sydney Cove. In 1796, the ship set sail from Calcutta, India, for Sydney, Australia. It sank along the way, taking 31,500 liters of tightly-sealed alcohol to the ocean floor. They were so well-sealed, in fact, that modern divers were surprised to discover that some bottles were still good!
Analyses revealed that the Sydney Cove was carrying port, grapes, and beer. The beer was an especially exciting find, because beer is a living thing, filled with yeasts for fermentation. Brewers with Australia’s oldest brewery are hoping to use that yeast to create 18th-century-style beer.
First, they isolated the yeast from one of the beer bottles. They were excited to discovered that not only was the yeast 220 years old, but it was a rare hybrid strain, totally different from those used in modern beer. They had to experiment a lot to find a drink that was drinkable to modern tongues. One brewer described it as “taming” the yeast!
The result, The Wreck Preservation Ale, goes on sale this month.
