Diver Recovers 1864 Guinness Bottle from Dover Shipwreck

A Belgian diver from Bornem has recovered a remarkably preserved bottle of Guinness dating back to 1864 from a shipwreck off the coast of Dover, England. The extraordinary find offers a unique window into 19th-century brewing and has sparked an international scientific project to recreate the stout as it would have tasted more than 160 years ago.

Stef Panis, an underwater photographer and technical diver with over 40 years of experience, discovered the bottle while exploring the wreck of the Mindoro, a wooden sailing barque that sank on November 27, 1864, after colliding with another vessel off the Dover coast. The ship had set sail from London to Vancouver about a week earlier, carrying colonial cargo including provisions for an English army regiment stationed in Vancouver.

A Remarkable Discovery

Panis first located the shipwreck 12 years ago at approximately 25 meters depth. It was during a dive in 2025 that he spotted a crate of bottles protruding from the sand. “This bottle caught my attention because it had, like a champagne bottle, a kind of cover over the top,” Panis told VRT NWS.

When Panis and his fellow diver Eddie Huzzey surfaced, a quick rinse revealed the familiar Guinness branding. “We lifted the artefact, and then on the surface a quick rinse revealed ‘Guinness’,” he told BBC News.

The bottle bears the inscription “Guinness London” — notable because Guinness originates from Ireland. Guinness confirmed that in the 19th century, it was common practice to transport beer in barrels to other locations, including London, for local bottling and shipping. Brewing historian Edward Bourke identified the bottle as having been bottled by Cameron Saunders of London, confirming the beer was brewed in Dublin and bottled in the English capital.

Preservation Against the Odds

The bottle’s survival is remarkable. It was found upside down in its crate, which proved crucial to its preservation — the trapped air bubble created a pressurized barrier that blocked seawater ingress. The bottles were stored at 4 degrees Celsius under constant high pressure and in absolute darkness, ideal conditions for preservation.

Up to 20 bottles of stout have been discovered in the wreck, with Panis believing there could be a full case of 24 or more. “Seeing the size of the case, I think it is definitely a case of 24 bottles,” he said. “But there might be more cases.”

Project Jurassic Beer

Following the discovery, Panis and Polish technical diver and historical researcher Pawel Truszynski launched “Project Jurassic Beer,” an international scientific initiative to rebrew the Guinness to mimic exactly how it would have tasted in 1864. Samples have been sent to the sterile laboratory of Prof. Kevin Verstrepen at KU Leuven University in Belgium, a global authority in yeast genomics.

“If the microorganisms have survived, Guinness beer can be brewed using a 160-year-old recipe,” Truszynski told Finway. “Science can use them to recreate and produce the original yeasts. This is our current goal.”

Scientists will conduct historical DNA sequencing on the yeast, with the goal of resurrecting and brewing Guinness to the exact flavor profile of the Victorian era. Verstrepen noted it is unlikely they can retrieve living yeast cells from the bottles — though they will try. In that case, he will take a “modern sibling” of the original yeast once the DNA is analyzed.

“There is always a chance that we can recover the complete DNA, and then we can do a small re-brew of the exact beer that was found in the 1860s,” Panis said.

A Shipwreck with a Storied Past

The Mindoro wreck is more than just a beer cache. According to Truszynski’s research, the ship was a new clipper chartered under a direct contract with Queen Victoria to transport state provisions to a remote imperial outpost on Vancouver Island. Records from Dover dating to summer 1865 reveal that just six months after the sinking, a covert team of British hardhat divers attempted to blast open the ship’s decks and steal the cargo. The disaster also triggered a monumental insurance war that forced Parliament to rewrite international merchant shipping acts.

“Yet this wreck is more than just beer: it is a massive historical and legal thriller that completely altered the course of global maritime history,” Truszynski told Divernet.

International Interest and Next Steps

The discovery has attracted international attention. Guinness owner Diageo said its archive team is “liaising with the divers to gather more information and evaluate the find,” while KU Leuven University has expressed interest in analyzing the contents. Panis has filed a request with the Receiver of Wreck, the official English body that handles shipwrecks, to ensure legal compliance.

A new expedition is planned in about two weeks to recover more bottles, after poor diving conditions — east winds causing poor visibility — prevented an earlier attempt. The wreck also contains plates, cutlery, wine bottles, gin bottles, and buckles from rifles and army belts.

As for whether the 162-year-old stout might still be drinkable, Panis remains cautiously optimistic. “There is a possibility that it’s still drinkable,” he told The Irish Times. “The question is if the sea water has come into the bottles through the corks. If not, most likely the beer would still be drinkable.”

Asked if he would try the historic stout if experts declared it safe, Panis answered without hesitation: “Of course.”