What the world’s oldest beer tastes like

An 18th century shipwreck has given some thirsty Australian researchers the opportunity to enjoy beer just like they made it 220 years ago.

Described as tasting “light and fresh,” the batch of beer goes by the name Preservation Ale and is sure to have beer aficionados green with envy.

The unique beer recipe was made possible after researchers at Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery successfully cultivated a live yeast sample taken from a beer bottle recovered from a shipwreck, reports CTV News.

Divers salvaged the vintage beer bottle in the early 1990s from the Sydney Cove trading vessel, which sunk off the coast of Australia in the year 1797. The ship was carrying a wide selection of trading goods from Calcutta to Sydney when it sank to the bottom of the ocean floor.

At 220 years old, the organic yeast recovered from the salvaged bottle may be the oldest specimen in modern existence.

The sample used to create the unique beer gives it a taste consistent with the historic brewing practices used all those years ago, according to museum conservator David Thurrowgood.

“Possibly the wreck has now also given us the world’s only known pre-industrial revolution brewing yeast,” he said.

“It is genetically different to hundreds of yeast species it has been compared to from Australia and around the world.”

The expert research team also hopes to raise the funds to use other organic samples salvaged from the shipwreck for other traditional libations as well.

"We will also study the wine and spirits from the cargo, possibly enabling recreating other historic brews,” said museum director Richard Mulvaney.

Image via Australian National Shipwreck Database