One of the world's oldest beers
In the summer of 2010 some very old bottles were found in a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The wreck was found off the coast of the Åland Islands and at first the divers discovered ancient champagne. However, some smaller bottles were also found. While extracting to the surface one of the smaller bottles exploded under the pressure, and a dark liquid poured from the inside. It turned out - there was beer in the bottles.
Five bottles of beer were lifted from the old shipwreck. The bottles, preserved on the seabed at a depth of 50 meters, presumably date from the first half of the 1800s, which makes it one of the oldest preserved beers in the world.
Despite its very old age, the beer seems to have kept well at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The low temperature and the darkness inside the wreck have provided optimal storage conditions, and the pressure inside the bottles has prevented the salt water from sipping in through the cork.
All the finds belong to the Government of Åland, and it has been decided that the beer will be analyzed. The study will be made by VTT, the Technical Research Centre of Finland. The goal is to recreate the original recipe for modern industrial production. What type of beer - the answer will hopefully be provided by the analyses.
The origin and the exact age of the wreck are still being investigated. The schooner seems to have sunk during the first half of the 19th century. The cargo also contained bottles of old champagne of various brands.