An interdisciplinary team of researchers, archaeologists and brewmasters in Israel first isolated 5,000-year-old yeast in 2019, as published in the peer-reviewed mBio journal in 2019. But now, the fruits of that discovery are about to become available for hobby brewers and sourdough aficionados everywhere, when the first batch of commercially available ancient yeast ships in December. Pre-orders are open now.I noted that this project was in the works back in 2020.
The important question is, of course, what does it taste like? I don't remember seeing this at the time, but the current article says:
A Times of Israel reporter who tried one of the first iterations of beer brewed with the ancient yeast in 2019 said at the time it was “slightly sweet, with a subtle tang… and tasted [of] banana and other fruits.”That sounds interesting.
The researchers are also working on recreating ancient Roman wine. They might be interested in this Haaretz article by Ariel David: L'chaim! | Ancient Canaanites at Megiddo Raised a Glass to the Dead, Archaeologists Find. Analysis of 3,500-year-old pottery found in tombs at the site of Armageddon reveals the Canaanites made wine offerings for their dearly departed – even for newborns.
The newly published research, by archaeologist Ayala Amir and colleagues, focuses on the residue analysis of thirty jugs, jars and other vessels found in two spots of Megiddo, an elite monumental tomb near the city’s palace and burials dug under the floors of homes and workshops in a lower class neighborhood. Both areas date to the late Middle Bronze Age, from 1750 to 1550 B.C.E.For many PaleoJudaica posts on ancient beer and modern efforts to recreate it, see the link above, plus here, and links. For the other impressive organic remains recovered at Megiddo from c. 1600 BCE, see here and here and links (cf. here). As for the wine, for other efforts at vintage resurrection, see the links that start here.
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