HONESDALE, Pa. — Employees of Irving Cliff Brewery in Honesdale got a surprise from a regular customer last week.
The man had been sorting through his garage and came across a part of the brewery's history, a crate of old bottles from the brewery.
"He brought him in to show us because he thought it was really interesting, and he, he's a customer here. So, he comes in quite often anyways, and we were ecstatic that he gave them to us," said Addie Lord, Irving Cliff Brewery Employee.
The man and the brewery owner believe these bottles date back to 1913, when the original brewery was in a location different from where it stands presently.
"A lot of people don't know the history behind the original Irving Cliff Brewery. It was built in the cliffs over at Irving Cliff, it was built in the caves underneath, and it's actually the fifth oldest brewery in the whole United States," said Lord.
It's unclear how long the bottles have been in the man's garage, but it appears they have stood the test of time pretty well.
"This is an original marked Irving Cliff Brewery wooden crate, as well as the Aqua cork and caged bottles that say Irving Cliff Brewery Honesdale. You know, they're the original thing," said Lord.
At the time the bottles were sold, the brewery would give back a 5 cent deposit for each bottle, so employees decided to honor that deposit with a little bit of interest.
"He just brought him back to give to us, and we decided to give him a deposit; calculating a five-cent deposit on these bottles plus 108 years of interest, we gave him $60. He's been using most of that money on our Rip's purple magic," said Lord.
The bottles will soon be on display at the brewery in Honesdale, in addition to the pieces of the brewery's history already on the walls.