Seahawks Stadium Beers Still Have Kick, Brewer Insists
— -- Beer maker Anheuser-Busch said today it should not have been flagged for serving watered down beer at Seattle Seahawks football games, insisting that its stadium brews have all the alcohol they are supposed to have.
The giant beer maker said it tested the batch of beer that was recently tested.
"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," David Craig, Anheuser-Busch regional vice president, said in a statement to ABC News.
This week, ABC affiliate KOMO released an alcohol analysis of six types of beer served at the Seahawks' stadium.
After working with a lab in Seattle, KOMO said the alcohol percentages of the draft beers tested were below the stated alcohol content. For example, Budweiser has an advertised 5.0 percent alcohol content, but KOMO said its sample tested at 4.4 percent.
Anheuser-Busch, which owns five of the six brands tested at the stadium, said it sells "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," David Craig, Anheuser-Busch regional vice president, said in a statement to ABC News.
Redhook, the brewery which sold the sixth stadium beer, said it "is not aware of any requests from any retailer, including CenturyLink, to make an existing beer at a lower ABV under the same name, thereby forcing them to deceive beer drinkers."
"Not only would something like this be incredibly difficult to pull off logistically, it would also directly violate standards and protocols," a statement from a Redhook spokeswoman said.
Craig said that 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," Craig said. "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."
CenturyLink Field did not respond to a request for comment.
