Sam Adams beer recalled BY JOHN ECKBERG | snipped-for-privacy@ENQUIRER.COM E-mail | Print | digg us! | del.icio.us! | Click-2-Listen
Sam Adams beer bottled at the company’s West End plant in 12-ounce bottles has been recalled by Boston-based Boston Beer Co. because the bottles may contain bits of glass.
Quality-control inspections at the Sam Adams Brewery Co. plant at 1625 Central Parkway revealed that some beer bottles manufactured by a third-party glass bottle supplier were defective.
Beer bottles embossed on the base with the letter “N” followed by the number “35” and the letters “OI” may be defective, the company said in a news release.
Retailers and consumers were told that all bottled beer that has N35 on it should be disposed and that full refunds will be made to consumers. “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 and a former Indian Hill resident, in a news release.
A bottle-making firm in Auburn, N.Y., owned by Owens Illinois, produced the bottles involved in the national recall, said Michelle Sullivan, spokeswoman for the brewery.
The brewer said that while 25 percent of its bottles came from the Owens Illinois arm, the brewer also estimated that the number of bottles from this plant that contain bits of glass is less than 1 percent.
The brewer could not determine when the defective bottles were filled.
“We have started a rigorous investigation but don’t know when it began,” Sullivan said. “Our standard, obviously, is zero glass so we are recalling everything that starts with N35.”
She did not know how many bottles were involved in the recall. Though the Cincinnati brewery spotted the problem, the bad bottles were shipped to four breweries under the Sam Adams banner.
The recall does not involve: draft beer, 24 ounce bottles, Utopias or Triple Bock. Bottles with embossed codes like N08, N17, N26 and N31 are not involved in the recall.
The company has told wholesalers to hold all products in their warehouses and to remove it from retail shelves.
For additional information, consumers should call the brewer at
1-888-674-5159 or visit the company’s recall Web site at