Diver Finds but Doesn't Yet Pour an 1864 Guinness in Shipwreck

Guinness doesn't put a "best-by" date on its beer bottles, and in this case, it's just as well. Belgian diver and underwater photographer Stefan Panis said he recovered a bottle brewed in 1864 from a shipwreck off Dover, England, in 2025, rinsed it off, and spotted the Guinness name on the glass. He suspects there's at least a full case still buried in the wreck, the BBC reports, which will require another dive to collect. There's scientific value to the beer find. But also, Panis said, "There is a possibility that it's still drinkable."

Samples have been sent to a beer microbiologist at KU Leuven University, where researchers hope to reconstruct the stout's original flavor—and possibly its full DNA—to brew a modern replica. Whether this bottle is worth a sip will depend on whether seawater seeped through the cork, Panis said, who said he's not a huge fan of the beer but would try it if declared safe, per the Telegraph. Guinness owner Diageo calls the find "a fascinating window into our past" and is examining the discovery. Even in 1864, the beer was originating in the same spot as today: Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease on the famed St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin in 1759, the company points out.