Divers Find 162-Year-Old Guinness Bottles in Shipwreck off English Coast

A Belgian underwater photographer who discovered a bottle of Guinness buried in a shipwreck off the English coast in 2025 has revealed the stout dates back to 1864 — making it 162 years old.

The Discovery

Stefan Panis, who has been diving for more than 40 years, found the bottle together with his friend Eddie Huzzey in a wreck off the coast of Dover. After surfacing, a quick rinse revealed the familiar Guinness branding on what turned out to be a bottle from 1864. Panis contacted Guinness to share his discovery.

What Could Be Inside

Panis believes there could be many more bottles in the wreck. Seeing the size of the case, I think it is definitely a case of 24 bottles. But there might be more cases, he said. He has already made plans to recover more bottles when conditions allow.

Science and Sampling

Panis' colleague Pawel Truszynski contacted a microbiologist specialising in beer at KU Leuven University in Belgium. Samples from the bottle have been sent for analysis, with researchers hoping to identify what the stout would have tasted like. 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. He added there is a possibility the beer is still drinkable if seawater has not seeped through the corks. The diver admitted he is not a big Guinness fan, but said he would not hesitate to try it if experts declared it safe.