Seahawks selling watered down beer at CenturyLink Field

The beer sold at CenturyLink Field in Seattle is watered down reports Komo News 4.

Over two different trips to the stadium, Komo’s Problem Solvers team collected six different samples of draft beer from concession stands. They then worked with IEH Labs in Seattle and found out that the beer being sold at the stadium was not what had been advertised.

Stella Artois: 

5.0% advertised ABV

4.8% tested

Bud Light:

4.2% advertised

3.9% tested

Redhook Brewery No Equal:

5.2% advertised

4.8% tested

Shocktop:

5.2% advertised

4.7% tested

Bass Pale Ale:

5.1% advertised

4.5% tested

Budweiser:

5.0% advertised

4.4% tested

 

Federal law prohibits alcohol providers from selling beer that is less than 0.3% below the advertised content.

This is not the first time a professional sports team has been accused of a watered down product, though most of the time its what is on the field that has fans up in arms.

Anheuser-Busch has contacted Tireball Sports to provide their full statement in regards to this matter. You can read it below:

Statement attributable to:

David Craig, Regional Vice President, Anheuser-Busch

We sell only full-strength beer in the state of Washington. The Anheuser-Busch draft beers offered at CenturyLink Field, and throughout the state, are the same as the packaged beer consumers purchase at bars, restaurants, convenience stores and other retail locations including CenturyLink Field.

We use exacting processes to monitor and test alcohol content throughout the brewing and packaging process of all our beers to ensure quality, consistency and accuracy. Laws and regulations governing alcohol requirements vary by state and we abide by all such requirements. In addition, we strictly follow federal guidelines regulating our products to make sure every package of beer that leaves our breweries meets the correct specifications for alcohol content.

We analyzed the production for the beers sampled in this instance, including alcohol levels, and found no irregularities. Based on our findings, we believe the draft beers sampled at the stadium during those dates met the specifications.

When we learned of Jon Humbert’s and KOMO-TV’s inquiry, we proactively reached out to him and also organized a conversation between Jon and one of our brewing experts to share the findings of our analysis and the technical aspects of testing beer.

Beer has unique properties, and accurately measuring its alcohol content requires specific controls, equipment and expertise. A large number of variables could affect testing results including management of the sample, equipment used and how it’s calibrated, and the testing method. In this case, the collection and transport using a plastic container, the lab and testing method could all fail to protect the alcohol content, which would explain the same variance in all samples taken.