As you are no doubt aware, beer has been around for a very long time. But, it is truly a remarkable discovery when an historical beer is found intact. Last year, at the Carlesberg Brewery in Copenhagen, Denmark, just such a discovery tool place.
In the depths of Carlesberg’s old cellars, scientists found one of the very first Carlsberg beers brewed with the original pure yeast from 1883. From that 133-year-old bottle, the company’s researchers were able to extract living yeast cells from the bottle.
To celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Carlsberg Research Laboratory, leading scientists and brewers at the Laboratory used the ancient yeast to rebrew the world’s first quality lager in the most authentic manner, using the original pure yeast and the exact same recipe, ingredients and brewing techniques as in 1883.
For the first time in more than a hundred years, beer-lovers will get to taste a beer, that not only is the forefather to most lager beers today, but that also displays some of the unique capabilities at the Carlsberg Research Laboratories.
Chairman of the Carlsberg Foundation and the Board of Trustees of the Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Professor Flemming Besenbacher says: “The Laboratory is renowned for some of the most extraordinary inventions of the past century, ranging from Professor Dr. Emil Chr. Hansen’s method of purifying yeast to the invention of the pH scale, the concept of protein structures and the characterization of enzymes. Carlsberg Research Laboratory remains a crown jewel in Carlsberg’s jewelry box and this beer, the first quality lager, was rebrewed in honor of the Lab’s historical research developments and its present day capabilities.”
Steve Hindy, Chairman and Co-founder of Brooklyn Brewery, and former Chairman of American Brewers Association, comments: “Being able to go into the archive at Carlsberg and recreate that original beer is very exciting, and I can’t wait to taste it.”
Carlesberg produced a video about the discovery and the new beer. Watch it below.
