CALGARY, AB – Village Brewery has announced that due to the recurrence of a production defect that can cause its 1.89 litre growlers to leak or explode, it is recalling all in-circulation growlers and will no longer be selling beer in that format effectively immediately.
As explained in the recall announcement:
As our beer is unpasteurized, and our bottles are filled on a bottling line, it has a shelf life of three (3) months – the beer quality can be extended by many more months if it is kept in a dark refrigerated environment, but this is out of our control after the beer leaves the brewery. If the beer is unfiltered (active yeast) the beer can also become more carbonated as time passes. The combination of unrefrigerated growlers, active yeast and extended time before opening of the growler create a quality control issue that is out of our control and is an increased risk to the consumer. We therefore have decided to pull all growlers out of the market.
Village had a similar issue in March 2014 that also led to a recall, but once new growlers were produced that appeared to lack the defect, the brewery started using them again. In this case, the format will be discontinued entirely, with kegs and bottles remaining as the two packaging options for Village brands.
For more details on the recall, including information on how to contact the brewery to receive a replacement six-pack for any previously purchased growlers, see the full announcement on the Village Brewery website.