Yeast from 1886 shipwreck makes new brew

[wottaguy]

Anyone read this?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.detroitnews.com/amp/39207921

Any thoughts? I wonder about the survival of this yeast after all this time...possible? Interesting read however.

 

[MildAvers]

It's possible. 135ft deep, buried in sand and the bottles still had corks intact most probably with beer in them.

A cold, dark environment, yeast stored under a sweet unfiltered beer.

 

[Homergah]

Interesting read and story. I do wonder about these old bottles supplying viable yeast. It's certainly not the oldest. I hope that this brewer enlisted help from a biologist that specializes in yeast preservation. I would like to see this yeast heritage. It was stated in the article that it was thought to have been related to a Bass yeast. Curious how that was determined.

 

[McKnuckle]

This is why I chuckle when I read what homebrewers say about harvested yeast: “It will last up to a couple of months before it’s no longer viable.” Right...

I recently harvested yeast from a 6 year old bottle of English beer, and I thought that was pretty cool. But the shipwreck thing is just amazing!

 

[Homergah]

This is why I chuckle when I read what homebrewers say about harvested yeast: “It will last up to a couple of months before it’s no longer viable.” Right...

I recently harvested yeast from a 6 year old bottle of English beer, and I thought that was pretty cool. But the shipwreck thing is just amazing!

I chuckle when I hear/read any of the "rules" of brewing. I see people get into arguments on these forums over something that someone thinks is a rule because they read it a homebrew manual. There are endless variables in brewing.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

There's been a number of beers made with yeast recovered from shipwrecks. However the yeast may not be Saccharomyces - one of the best studied was recovered from porter from a British shipwreck of 1825 and it turned out to be a Debramyces.

 

[Homergah]

There's been a number of beers made with yeast recovered from shipwrecks. However the yeast may not be Saccharomyces - one of the best studied was recovered from porter from a British shipwreck of 1825 and it turned out to be a Debramyces.

Nice read. Thanks for linking!

 

[shoreman]

I had the Flag Porter when it first came out in the US - early 2000’s. I remember it was a great porter but not sure if that was yeast driven

 

[Gravitysucks]

Kind of makes me want to see if I could make a starter out of this yeast I found tucked away, along with about a pound of various hops, in my old fridge in the cellar.