An amateur scuba diver has found a very interesting artifact at the bottom of the ocean. Jon Crouse was diving in the waters of Nova Scotia's Northwest Arm during a rainstorm last week. As a collector of vintage bottles, the one he found was certainly interesting: an unopened bottle of beer of the 1800s, CNN reported.
See an image here.
He said in an interview, "I've been looking for bottles since I started diving." He added, "I've found quite a few vintage bottles."
And this latest one seems to fit the description perfectly. Crouse used markings at the bottom of the bottle to trace its origins. Also, ink on the cork led him to the original brewer: A. Keith's Brewery. This brewer imported beer to Canada from Englad between 1872 and 1890, CBC noted.
A. Keith's Brewery opened in Halifax in 1820 and is one of the oldest commercial breweries in North America. Crouse's find is even more interesting since it holds some bubbly liquid inside, liquid that could very much be the original beer from A. Keiths from 120 years ago.
"I never expected to find half a bottle of Keith's, if that is what it is. I hope it is," the jubilant diver exclaimed.
But what does he plan to do with it? "I'll leave the bottle sitting in the top of the toilet tank. The frequent circulation of fresh water will eventually draw out all the salt from the cork." He goes on to add, "After about four months, I'll take the bottle, stand it upright, take some linseed oil and place a couple of drops on top. As the water dries out it will be replaced by the linseed oil and that will probably preserve the cork."
In a couple of years it is possible that all the liquid inside would dry out while preserving the cork. Others have weighed in on the find as well. Steve Durand, current brewmaster at Alexander Keith's Brewery, said that, "I don't think I'd be drinking it."
A Halifax bar owner, for his part, suggested getting Crouse's bottle to a lab for analysis. "Certainly we have brewing records, recipes and archives we can look to learn how brewers of the past made beer but the proof is in the pudding. It's more interesting I think to just analyze the actual thing, said Chris Reynolds, co-owner of Stillwell Bar in Halifax.
