A recent quirky project is challenging the taste buds of modern beer drinkers. Can a beer be made from yeast that’s nearly 3,000 years old, in combination with a 3,500-year-old Egyptian papyrus? The man behind this historic brew is Dylan McDonnell, a homebrewer and nonprofit operations manager. He holds a Master’s in Middle Eastern studies. During the pandemic, McDonnell heard about a man who was using a 4,500-year-old yeast strain to bake sourdough bread.
Ebers Papyrus Medicinal Recipes Cured Egyptian Ailments
While McDonnell had some time to kill, he wondered: Would a similar strategy work for crafting beer? His answer was yes, though it took McDonnell three years to reach that conclusion. McDonnell began this research by reading a papyrus text, (in fact, the Ebers Papyrus) originally written in Ancient Egypt around 1550 BC, which contains hundreds of medicinal recipes promising treatments and cures for everything from male pattern baldness to crocodile bites.
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Ancient Egyptian tomb painting depicting the serving of beer (Public Domain)
He narrowed his focus to approximately 75 recipes that referenced beer and listed all the ingredients on a spreadsheet. He found several ingredients were repeated in most recipes and began to assemble them. There were eight items shared in the majority of recipes: Egyptian balsam fruit (desert dates), Yemeni Sidr honey, sycamore figs, black cumin, juniper berries, Israeli golden raisins, carob fruit, and frankincense. Inspiration struck, and he decided to replicate the skills of an ancient brewmeister.
McDonnell sourced the rare sycamore figs from a 1,400-year-old grove from a friend who was also conducting research in Egypt. Dealing with the base grains, he landed on purple Egyptian barley and even emmer wheat, also known as farro in Europe.
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To find the appropriate yeast, he contacted a German company, Primer’s Yeast. The company assembled a team of archaeologists, microbiologists, and other experts to resurrect certain ancient yeast strains. From Primer’s, he was also able to obtain a strain of yeast which had originally been taken from a piece of pottery in Israel. The set strain of yeast dates to 850 BC, but what makes this find particularly fascinating is that the Philistines likely used the same yeast to make beer.
Ancient Egyptian Limestone Stela Depicting a Syrian Mercenary Drinking Beer through a Straw (Flobbadob/CC BY-SA 4.0)
The Brew Begins to Bubble
Once McDonnell had the ingredients and equipment he needed for his research, he could begin brewing. He used a three-vessel system set up in his backyard that could produce about 10 gallons of beer for about $1,000. His cost was at least five times that of an average batch of home-brewed beer, but the extra expense was worth it. With every sip, McDonnell had a chance to reconnect with the past.
In the end, McDonnell produced a beer similar to a gose, a German-style beer with a tart, slightly salty taste. The gose produced is around 5% alcohol by volume and even features notes of apricot, with a floral aftertaste. The flavor tastes more like mead or cider than beer because it doesn’t contain any hops, the green, pinecone-shaped flowers that contribute bitterness.
Private Tastings Available
McDonnell has no plans to sell his brew in the future, but he’s offered to host private tastings. A modified version of his recipe with easier-to-find ingredients was to be published on the Primer’s Yeast website, but the company is now defunct. Though McDonnell never intended to name his concoction, after being asked numerous times, he decided on “Sinai Sour” as a nod to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. He’s already dreaming up his next project: a beer with 25 percent alcohol by volume. McDonnell summed up his quirky historical venture like a true brewing aficionado: “I’m just some guy that’s following his passions.”
Top Image: The Ebers Papyrus, one of ancient Egypt's best-known medical texts, contains dozens of references to beer. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art/CC0 1.0
By Ramsey Hardin
References
Aouizerat, Tzemach, Michael Klutstein, Ronen Hazan, et al. “Isolation and Characterization of Live Yeast Cells from Ancient Vessels as a Tool in Bio-Archaeology.” mBio 10, no. 2 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00388-19
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“Homebrewer Recreates Ancient Egyptian Beer with 3,500-Year-Old Yeast Strain.” Ynetnews. June 27, 2024. Accessed June 30, 2026.https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/bjdow4iir.
Hornsey, Ian S. A History of Beer and Brewing. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2003.
Kuta, Sarah. “This Man Brewed Beer Using 3,000-Year-Old Yeast and a Recipe From an Ancient Egyptian Papyrus.” Smithsonian Magazine. June 20, 2024. Accessed June 30, 2026.https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-man-brewed-beer-using-3000-year-old-yeast-and-a-recipe-from-an-ancient-egyptian-papyrus-180984576/.
McDonnell, Dylan. “Recreating 3,000-Year-Old Beer.” Brew Your Own. July/August 2026. Accessed June 30, 2026.https://byo.com/articles/recreating-3000-year-old-beer/.
McGovern, Patrick E. Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003.
McGovern, Patrick E. Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Samuel, Delwen. “Brewing and Baking.” In Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, edited by Paul T. Nicholson and Ian Shaw, 537–576. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Staab, Hannah. “Utah Homebrewer Recreates Ancient Egyptian Beer Using 3,000-Year-Old Yeast and Recipe.” VinePair. June 21, 2024. Accessed June 30, 2026.https://vinepair.com/booze-news/beer-made-with-ancient-yeast/.
