Bought a six pack of bottled beer, one of the bottles has the cap of a different brand on it - should I care?

September 8, 2008 7:35 PM

I live in the NYC area and bought a six-pack of Saranac from the local shop. One of the bottles has a Brooklyn brewery cap on it instead of the Saranac cap. Are the two beers bottled in the same plant? Should I worry about tampering? The store is reputable and I've never had any trouble with anything from there in 3 years.
posted by ripple to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Best answer: In short, yes. The "Matt Brewing Company" in the wiki page is the brewer of Saranac.
posted by nursegracer at 7:43 PM on September 8, 2008

What Brooklyn beer was it? We go through a lot of Brooklyn beer at the place I work at and I do all the stocking. I've never seen anything other than a Brooklyn cap on a Brooklyn bottle in the 3.5 years I've worked there.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 7:44 PM on September 8, 2008

Dang, meant to say: "In short, no [you shouldn't be worried].
posted by nursegracer at 7:44 PM on September 8, 2008

Best answer: Back in the day we used to see Coke bottles with Sprite caps and so forth. Basically somebody didn't fully empty the production line before a restart. I wouldn't be overly concerned.

On the other hand, calling up the company and telling them may mean they send you a coupon for a free six pack in the interests of customer satisfaction.
posted by dhartung at 8:20 PM on September 8, 2008

Hold on to it as a conversation piece?
posted by qvtqht at 8:24 PM on September 8, 2008

Ditto what box said, but also ditto what nursegracer said. I remember very clearly going on a tour at the Brooklyn Brewery and having the guide tell us that. So, maybe a mix-up.
posted by dubitable at 8:26 PM on September 8, 2008

Are the labels different? I've (unintentionally) bought six-packs of bottles before that were mixed. I assume that someone wanted to try a different, possibly more expensive beer without buying six bottles of it. not that it makes a whole sense, because you could just buy a single bottle.

if the labels are the same, then i'd go with dhartung's answer
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:00 PM on September 8, 2008

I'd contact the company as a matter of courtesy. Without feedback that something went wrong in the bottling line, there's no way to correct it! Take a photo, write a letter.
posted by plinth at 5:38 AM on September 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

I think you're safe, but do call the company. I work for a mid-sized food producer and all kinds of things can go wrong without our knowing.
posted by GilloD at 6:51 AM on September 9, 2008

The Saranac brewery had a fire not long ago. For awhile, Saranac was being bottled in other facilities. That might be the source of the mis-capped bottle.
posted by maurice at 10:18 AM on September 9, 2008