BOSTON -April 7, 2008--The Boston Beer Company (BBC) today
announced a voluntary recall of select 12 oz glass bottles of its Samuel Adams
beer which may contain small grains or bits of glass. The precautionary recall
comes after routine quality control inspections at the Company's Cincinnati
brewery detected defects in certain beer bottles, manufactured by a third-party
glass bottle supplier that might cause small bits of glass to break off and
possibly fall into the bottle. The affected bottles come from only one of the
five glass plants that supply the Company with bottles. This plant supplies
about 25% of BBC bottles. While the Company believes that the number of bottles
from this plant that actually contain glass is significantly less than 1%, it
took this measure to protect the safety of its drinkers.
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".
The following products are not being recalled:
Samuel Adams draft beer
24oz bottles of Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams Utopias
Samuel Adams Triple Bock
Bottles with embossed code N08 followed by the letters "OI"
Bottles with embossed code N17 followed by the letters "OI"
Bottles with embossed code N26 followed by the letters "OI"
Bottles with embossed code N31 followed by the letters "OI"
Consumers who have purchased beer in the defective bottles are advised not to
drink it and dispose of the product. The Company will issue a full refund on
potentially affected product.
The Company has had no reports of any consumer injury but the presence of
small bits of glass in the bottle could pose a health risk under certain
circumstances. While the possibility of injury to an individual consumer is very
low, people who bite or swallow a fragment could possibly be injured. Anyone who
has consumed beer from an affected bottle and becomes ill, or shows signs of
complications, should see a physician immediately.
Boston Beer has stopped distributing all products in the defective bottles.
Additionally, the Company's direction to its wholesalers is to hold all of the
affected products in their warehouses, and to remove it from retail shelves
immediately.
For additional information, consumers are encouraged to contact The Boston
Beer Company at 1-888-674-5159 or access the company's recall Web site at
http://consumerinfo.samadams.com.
"We are disappointed and disturbed by this development, and we are doing
everything we can to address the situation," said Jim Koch, founder and brewer
of the Boston Beer Company. "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. Our brewers, management, and all employees remain
committed to doing everything possible to resolve this situation quickly, and to
ensure the safety of our drinkers and the quality of our beer."
THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY BACKGROUND:
The Boston Beer Company began in 1984 with a generations-old family recipe
that Founder and Brewer Jim Koch uncovered in his father's attic. After bringing
the recipe to life in his kitchen, Jim brought it to bars in Boston with the
belief that drinkers would appreciate a complex, full-flavored beer, brewed
fresh in America. That beer was Samuel Adams Boston Lager(R), and it helped
catalyze what became known as the American craft beer revolution.
Today, the Company brews more than 21 styles of beer. The Company uses the
traditional four vessel brewing process and often takes extra steps like
dry-hopping and a secondary fermentation known as krausening. It passionately
pursues the development of new styles and the perfection of its classic beers by
constantly searching for the world's finest ingredients. While resurrecting
traditional brewing methods, the Company has earned a reputation as a pioneer in
another revolution, the "extreme beer" movement, where it seeks to challenge
drinkers' perceptions of what beer can be. The Boston Beer Company strives to
elevate the image of American craft beer by entering festivals and competitions
the world over, and in the past five years it has won more awards in
international beer competitions than any other brewery in the world. The Company
remains independent, and brewing quality beer remains its single focus. While
Samuel Adams is the country's largest-selling craft beer, it accounts for only
about one-half of one percent of the U.S. beer market. For more information,
please visit www.samueladams.com.