Free Beer... Well sort of

Source: http://consumerreportsblog.blogspot.com

The Boston Beer Co. announced Monday that it is recalling about 25 percent of its beer bottles after it discovered defects that might cause bits of glass to break off and fall into the bottles.

The South Boston-based brewer of Samuel Adams beers said the beer bottles were supplied from a plant in Auburn, N.Y., by one of the company’s glass suppliers. The defect was noticed during routine quality control inspections at Boston Beer’s Cincinnati brewery, although the bottles were shipped to all four breweries where Samuel Adams beers are bottled.

The company said it has not received any consumer complaints of any injury related to the defect.

The affected products are embossed on the base of the bottles with the following marking: The letter “N,” followed by the number “35,” followed by the letters “OI”.

Consumers who have already purchased the bottles are advised to throw them away and seek a refund from the company.

The company has also directed all its wholesalers to hold the affected bottles in their warehouses and remove the bottles from retail shelves.

A spokeswoman for the company said no estimates for the total number of bottles affected or the total cost to the company are available yet.

“We are disappointed and disturbed by this development, and we are doing everything we can to address the situation,” said Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer. “Since our founding, we have never issued a product recall for any reason, and are deeply disappointed that these bottles did not meet our quality standards. Brewing great beer is not enough. Because of these bottles supplied to us from an outside vendor, we didn’t live up to our drinker’s expectations.”

For more info, customers can call The Boston Beer Co. at 1-888-674-5159 or click here to go to the company’s recall Web site.