Sierra Nevada Brewing recalls bottled beer due to glass hazard

Sierra Nevada Brewing said Sunday it has issued a recall in the Midwest, South and East Coast of some of its bottled beer after detecting a flaw that could allow glass to chip and fall inside.

The recall applies to certain varieties of beer in 12-ounce bottles produced at Sierra Nevada's brewery in Mills River, N.C., the brewer said on its website.

"While we believe this concern impacts roughly one 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," the statement said.

Sierra Nevada says the glass shard could break loose and fall into the bottle. It says it has not received any customer complaints or reports of injuries from the flaw.

The recall applies to Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale and several other varieties. All of the beer was bottled at the North Carolina facility between Dec. 5 and Jan. 8, in the case of the Pale Ale, and Dec. 5 to Jan. 13 for the others. Sierra Nevada says buyers can tell from the code on its cardboard packaging or the bottles where the beer was brewed, either by an M or C on the code. None of the California-produced beer is affected.

Sierra Nevada started at a microbrewery in California in 1980. It announced in 2012 that it was expanding by opening the Mills River brewery on the East Coast.

The brewer urges anyone who bought the beer to dispose of it and seek a refund from an online form on its website. It also says it will be pulling unsold product off grocers' shelves.

States included in the recall are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, 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, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Beer bottled at Sierra Nevada's Chico, Calif., brewery is unaffected by the recall.