In Photos: Recreating 220-Year-Old Beer Found in Shipwreck

Reviving ancient foods

oldest beer

(Image credit: David Thurrowgood)

The researchers have also used the shipwrecked yeast to bake bread.

At the time of the voyage of the Sydney Cove, beer and bread makers were not aware of the existence of microbes like yeast, and bakers traditionally used the foam from beer making as "leaven" to make bread rise. [Read full story about the recreated beer]

Live Science Contributor

Tom Metcalfe is a freelance journalist and regular Live Science contributor who is based in London in the United Kingdom. Tom writes mainly about science, space, archaeology, the Earth and the oceans. He has also written for the BBC, NBC News, National Geographic, Scientific American, Air & Space, and many others.