Sierra Nevada brewery announces 36-state recall of select beers

SAN FRANCISCO -- Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. announced a recall Sunday of certain 12-ounce bottles of its pale ales, IPA’s and other beers after detecting a packaging flaw that could cause a piece of glass to break off into the bottle. 

In a statement Sunday, it said the recall applies to eight different types of its craft beers, including its popular Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, purchased in 36 states across the Midwest, the South and East Coast of the United States. 

“We have announced a voluntary recall of select 12-ounce bottles that may contain a small glass packaging flaw,” the company announced. “This recall comes after quality inspections at our Mills River, North Carolina, brewery 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,” it said.  

The company said it had not received any consumer reports of injuries as of early Sunday afternoon.

“We are working with our suppliers to determine the root cause of the issue,” it said.

The affected beer has a package date that falls between Dec. 5, 2016, and Jan. 13, 2017 and a brewery code of “M’’ - which stands of Mills River - printed directly on bottles and the packaging of cardboard cases.

Aside from its Pale Ale, the Sierra Nevada recall includes 12-ounce bottles of its Beer Camp Golden IPA, Sidecar Orange Pale Ale, Torpedo Extra IPA, Tropical Torpedo, Nooner, Hop Hunter and Otra Vez. 

The company has stopped distributing all affected beer and is working to have it removed from retails shelves, the statement said. Consumers were urged to check the company’s website for details on the recall and not to drink any of the recalled beer, which would be fully refunded.

The recall applies to the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachussets, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

The company said some beers were not impacted by the recall. They include all Sierra Nevada canned and draught beer, and all 24-ounce and 750ml bottled beer.