Beer recall: 10 Barrel Brewing cites enzyme for overcarbonation problem

10 Barrel Brewing Co. conducted a voluntary recall of two of its beers, Swill and Beer #1 from its number series, after discovering that some of the product may be experiencing secondary fermentation in the bottle, causing over carbonation. As a precaution, 10 Barrel Brewing removed all inventory of Swill from its wholesalers and retail shelves and asked that customers immediately dispose of any Swill already purchased.

“Swill is brewed with a completely different process than any of our other beers, isolating this issue to only Swill,” the company noted in its recall notice. “This recall does not affect any of 10 Barrel Brewing’s other products and we’re completely confident that all of our other beers are of the highest quality.”

10 Barrel also added this:

Consumers: if you have any Swill in your home, please do not open it, attempt to transport it, or return it to your retail store. Dispose of the product by following these steps: (i) Before disposing of any bottles of Swill, please put on protective gloves and eye wear; (ii) Place all remaining Swill bottles in a closed box and place immediately in a secured dumpster or trash container outside.

“We take the utmost pride in producing an extremely high quality product and continuously striving for new and innovative beers to send to the consumer. Unfortunately in this instance, despite a rigorous testing and brewing quality-­‐check process, we didn’t hit the mark,” the company stated.

So, what was the problem? Apparently it stems from an enzyme the team was using that was meant to break down complex starch strains and reinvigorate early fermentation in some of its sour beers.