Famous Discoveries - Shackleton's Beer Barrel

Shackleton's 1907-09 expedition received many donations of goods and supplies, and one of them was a barrel of beer, originally donated to Shackleton by New Zealand brewer Speight's in 1907. Presumably the contents were enjoyed by the crew but the barrel itself was left behind at the site when the expedition departed in 1909. 

The remnant iron hoops and staves were pulled out of Pony Lake (adjacent to Nimrod hut) by hut caretakers in the 1970's. The barrel pieces were then left near the hut and remained there, embedded in ice, for decades.

When the Trust started major conservation work at the site in 2005, the staves and hoops were leaned up against an area adjacent to the latrine and the pony stables. The Trust spent four years conserving the hut, and during that project, a plan was made to re-build the barrel back into its original form.

In 2016 the remains of the barrel were temporarily relocated to New Zealand, where they underwent a detailed examination by the Trust’s conservators. The iron hoops were too badly corroded to be used to reconstruct the barrel but many of the staves were in suitable condition. Connecting with one of New Zealand’s only practicing coopers, Jurgen Voigtlander, the Trust worked with him to re-build the Speight’s barrel. Jurgen painstakingly rebuilt the barrel using traditional techniques, and incorporating the original staves, new iron and some new wooden elements provided by Speights Dunedin. The barrel was returned to Cape Royds during the 2018-19 Antarctic Summer season.