Experts suggest 150-year-old Utah bottle may have contained apple cider, surprising everyone
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Researchers may have solved the mystery of a 150-year-old alcohol bottle found in Utah, and there are some surprises in store.
The artifact was found this summer at an archaeological site in Alta, Utah, a once-thriving mining town now known for its ski resorts.
The bottle was brought to the High West Distillery in Park City, the first legal distillery in Utah since the 1870s.
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There, experts took a sip of the liquid and noted that the taste was clearly stale.
Tara Lindley, High West’s director of sensory and product development, said the first scent she detected was an “oxidized fruit note,” according to FOX 13.
Experts at High West Distillery analyzed the contents of a bottle recently unearthed at an archaeological site in Alta, Utah. (FOX 13)
Isaac Winter, High West’s distilling manager, said the liquid was “fruity.”
“There’s some skin,” Winter said. “There’s a lot of age in that.”
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Although experts were initially baffled by the contents of the bottle, they now believe it contained cider.
Speaking to FOX 13 this week, Winter called the lab results “really exciting.”
Experts stated that the aroma of the liquid contained “oxidized fruit aroma” and suggested that it may be apple-based. (FOX 13)
“We saw a few esters [organic compounds] “This shows that the base is apple,” he said.
Winter and Lindley said the results were not definitive.
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The team will send samples to third-party laboratories for further testing, including verification by volume of alcohol content, which is expected to be low.
Additional sugar and acid tests are planned to confirm whether the liquid contains apple-specific compounds such as malic acid.
Researchers believe a 150-year-old alcohol bottle found in Alta, Utah, may have once contained cider rather than beer. (FOX 13)
In fact, Winter said the team wanted to recreate the liquid as well, and High West Distillery was “exploring different options to work with labs to coat it.”
“There’s probably a bunch of different microbes in there; bacteria, yeasts,” Winter said. he said.
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“You know, we need it so we can eat sugar and produce alcohol and CO2. We also want it to taste good at the end of the day.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to High West Distillery for more details.
High West Distillery, the first legal distillery in Utah since the 1870s, helped evaluate the historic find. (FOX 13)
This discovery joins a long list of archaeological finds related to food and drink, with some discoveries dating back much further.
ancient in Türkiye barley grains Remains dating back 5,000 years were found by excavators last year.
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Italian authorities announced in December that archaeologists had found preserved food remains in Pompeii, shedding light on ancient diets.
