Sierra Nevada is the third largest craft brewery in the U.S.A., trailing only Yuengling and Boston Beer Co., so when they announce a recall of beer bottles in 37 states, that’s a pretty big deal for the industry. The voluntary recall announced by the company applies to select 12-ounce bottles that “may contain a small glass packaging flaw” after production at the brewery’s Mills River, NC location. To quote the brewery’s press release:
“We detected a very limited number of bottles with a flaw that may result in loss of carbonation and a small piece of glass to break off and possibly fall into the bottle, causing a risk for injury. While we believe this concern impacts roughly 1 in every 10,000 (0.01%) of our bottles packaged during this time, Sierra Nevada has set the standard for quality in the craft brewing industry since 1980 and we have decided to take this precaution to ensure the safety of our consumers. To-date, we have not received any consumer reports of injuries resulting from the potentially affected bottles and we are working with our suppliers to determine the root cause of the issue.”
The recall applies to product purchased in the following Midwest, Southern and East Coast states: AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI and WV.
The beers affected, meanwhile, including the classic Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, along with 12-ounce bottles of Beer Camp Golden IPA, Sidecar Orange Pale Ale, Torpedo Extra IPA, Tropical Torpedo, Nooner, Hop Hunter and Otra Vez. Full production dates of which bottles may be affected can be found at the official site.
Sierra Nevada must be applauded for moving so much product off the shelves when there’s only a 1 in 10,000 chance of any given bottle being affected. The situation is hardly ideal, but the brewery has stepped up and taken responsibility for the issue in a prompt manner.