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View Full Version : Harpoon Warning (for your safety)...


Mill Rat
08-23-2007, 09:10 PM
Shamelessly copied and pasted from sudsdog's posting on Beer Advocate:

Since offering the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Pêche, a limited edition product, in May, Harpoon has been notified by a few loyal customers that a small number of the 22 ounce Pêche bottles have broken under pressure, creating a potential hazard to handlers and consumers. The risk is not from the beer, but from the added pressure in the bottle caused by the secondary fermentation. To protect the safety of our loyal customers and beer lovers everywhere, we have decided to issue this warning along with safe-handling instructions for all 22 ounce Pêche bottles. In addition, we have removed existing inventory from wholesalers who carry the Pêche, our brewery stores in Windsor and Boston, and have instructed our wholesalers to pick up any remaining bottles at retail outlets throughout New England and New York.

If you have any 22 ounce Pêche bottles, please carefully un-cap the bottles – if possible without moving them. We would recommend wearing protective eyewear and/or shrouding the bottle with a hand towel while un-capping. The beer itself is fine. Once you safely remove the cap and release the pressure, feel free to enjoy it. If you choose not to consume it and would like us to refund your purchase price, simply send us an e-mail at pecherefund@harpoonbrewery.com with your name, mailing address, the location and the approximate date of your purchase and number of bottles purchased; and we will promptly send you a refund.

If you have any additional questions, please call Jaime Schier, Quality Control Manager, at
888-427-7666 x-538 or email at jschier@harpoonbrewery.com.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your loyalty to Harpoon.

Al Marzi, VP of Brewing Operations

Mill Rat
08-23-2007, 09:11 PM
And my reply:

Harpoon has done both the reasonable and the legally wise thing. Once they've identified the problem, they've made reasonable efforts to notify those who might be affected. This instantly decreases the exposure they'd have had if they covered it up and someone was injured. I'm sure that they have posted notices at the stores that retail this product, too. It now becomes the consumer's choice to open it or call in the bomb squad. (And how would you handle this situation of you were a bomb squad member?)

Their next strategic move is to make any refund claimants identify the store at which they bought the beer. Harpoon's distros certainly maintain records of how many bottles each retailer received, and how many bottles were pulled from the shelves. Simple subtraction then tells you haw many bottles any one purchaser could have bought at a single location. My bet is this is a quite small number. I doubt that many retailers had the Pêche displayed as 30-pack pyramids. "Uh, I bought 1500 bottles from Pat's Package Liquor Store for 30 bucks each. You guys owe me $45,000."

I think Harpoon also knows that most of their customers are more interested in keeping a craft brewer whose products they enjoy in business than in soaking them for maybe $100. Plus, nothing stops Harpoon from keeping a list of the names of those claimants whose quantities might suggest an unhealthy of enhancement of the truth or just plain fiction. They might get culled from any promotional efforts.

Finally, I'd wager a significant certain portion of their client base has experience with homebrews, for whom bottle bombs aren't a menace to the population, just part of the adventure.

HogieWan
08-24-2007, 08:41 AM
I agree - they did the right thing

HarkJohnny
08-24-2007, 12:16 PM
agreed. nice to see them being proactive.

if i had one, i'd try opening it... carefully and outside!

jjpm74
08-25-2007, 11:19 AM
Harpoon's always been good to their customers. About 5 years ago, I bought a six pack of their winter warmer and one of the bottles was underfilled and flat. Harpoon refunded me for the entire six pack AND gave me $20 in credit at their Vermont location. That was a surprise to me, but they definitely won over my loyalty from then on.

jjpm74
08-25-2007, 11:22 AM
Oops