Experts suggest 150-year-old Utah bottle may have contained apple cider, surprising everyone

Researchers may have solved the mystery of the 150-year-old alcohol bottle discovered in Utah — and there are some surprises. 

The artifact was found this summer at an archaeological site in Alta, Utah, a once-booming mining town now known for its ski resorts.

The bottle was brought to 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 within — and described the taste as unmistakably aged.

Tara Lindley, director of sensory and product development at High West, said the first scent she detected was an “oxidized fruit note,” according to FOX 13.

Experts at High West Distillery recently analyzed the contents of a bottle unearthed at an archaeological site in Alta, Utah. (FOX 13)

Isaac Winter, head of distilling at High West, said the liquid was “fruity.”

“There’s a little bit of leather,” Winter said. “There’s quite a bit of age on it.”

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While the experts were originally stumped at what the bottle contained, they now believe it held apple cider.

Speaking to FOX 13 this week, Winter described the lab results as “really exciting.”

Experts described the liquid’s aroma as featuring an “oxidized fruit note,” suggesting it may have been apple-based. (FOX 13)

“We saw a couple of esters [organic compounds] that would suggest the base was apples,” he said.

Winter and Lindley said the results, however, are not conclusive.

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The team will send samples to third-party labs for further testing, including an attempt to confirm the alcohol by volume, which is expected to be low.

Additional sugar and acid tests are planned to confirm whether the liquid contains apple-specific compounds, like malic acid.

Researchers believe a 150-year-old alcohol bottle discovered in Alta, Utah, may have once contained apple cider — rather than beer. (FOX 13)

Winter even said the team would like to recreate the liquid as well, and that High West Distillery is “exploring different options to work with labs on plating this out.”

Said Winter, “There’s probably a whole mess of different microbes in there — bacteria, yeast.”

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“We need it to, you know, be able to eat sugar and create alcohol and CO2. We also want it to taste good at the end of the day.”

Fox News Digital reached out to High West Distillery for further details. 

High West Distillery, the first legal distillery in Utah since the 1870s, helped evaluate the historic find. (FOX 13)

The discovery joins a long list of archaeological finds involving food and drink — and some discoveries are far older.

In Turkey, ancient barley grains dating back 5,000 years were found by excavators last year.

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Italian officials announced in December that archaeologists had found preserved food remains in Pompeii, shedding light on ancient diets.