Brewer recalls Sam Adams over broken glass

Boston Beer Co. is recalling Samuel Adams beer sold in bottles shipped from one of its glass suppliers.

The bottles may contain small fragments of glass that could injure drinkers if ingested, the company said. They've set up a Web site with information about the recall here. Bottles embossed with the code "N35 OI" at their base should not be drunk, according to the site.

According to news reports, including this one from the Boston Herald, the defective bottles come from an Owens-Illinois plant in Auburn, N.Y. Bottles from four other plants are not affected, the company says. OI has a release about the matter up here. it takes issues with Boston Beer Co. calling the bottles "defective," saying they appear to have been made according to OI's standards.

Boston Beer Co. is offering refunds, according to the Herald story. The recall Web site has a page where consumers can enter the code at the bottom of their bottles.

Has anyone out there found they have the affected bottles? What are you doing with them? Has the company offered to mail you a refund?

Happy "Beer is Back' Day & Craft Beer Top 50

Today's April 7th, marking 75 years since the first legal beer in 13 years as an amendment to the Volstead Act took effect in 1933, effectively ending the total ban on alcoholic beverages in the United States. Liquor would flow later that year after the 18th Amendment was repealed. But for eight months, beer slaked the nation's thirst.

Tonight, I'll raise a glass of whatever's in my fridge to the tremendous diversity brewers are now producing. Cheers!

How are you celebrating beer today?

The Brewer's Association, meanwhile, released is list of the nation's top 50 craft brewers, as measured by beer sales. As usual, Boston Beer Co. tops the last, and also ranks #5 among brewers of any size. Southerners can take pride in the two Dixie-based brewers on the list (Sorry, Dogfish Head, Deleware didn't secede; apologies, Spoetzl, Texas doesn't count as Southern for me). Louisiana's Abita Brewing of Abita Springs is #17, While Atlanta's Sweetwater Brewing comes in at #30.

WaPo: Superlative brewing

Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams, has become known for exploring the limits of beer, including its flavor, alcohol content and last but most certainly not least, price.

The latest product of Sam Adams' extreme-brewing arm is the 2007 version of its Utopia. It's got the highest alcohol content ever recorded in a beer, at 27 percent by volume, according to this story from The Washington Post earlier in the week. It's also pretty darn pricey, starting at $120 for a 24-ounce bottle. That's assuming you can find one. The brew can't be sold in 14 states (including Alabama, of course) because of the high alcohol content (despite the fact that it equates to about 54 proof, much less than many liquors very legal in those states).

Boston Beer recommends serving Utopia in two-ounce pours, according to the story. That would equate to about $10 a serving.

Yikes.

Thank Thai food for craft beer?

The Associated press has a story out today (available here at the Detroit Free Press' Web site) that's mostly an interview with Boston Beer Co.'s Jim Koch. It examines the recent rise of craft beer (and the "moving upscale" phenomenon mentioned so many years ago by Michael Jackson, as noted below), and Koch's view of the reasons behind it. One point the AP writer hangs the story on: Americans have developed a taste for the bold, spicy flavors in Asian and African cuisine, making beer a better beverage choice than wine. A Koch quote from the story:

"Your definition of beer and your expectations for beer are too low," he says. "We brewers have not really elevated your expectations for what beer can be. But this now elevates your expectations of what beer can be."