Seahawks are selling fans watered-down beer

Ever been to a game at CenturyLink Field and thought your beer didn’t taste quite right? Your taste buds didn’t deceive your ability to taste Buds, because it turns out the Seahawks have been watering down their beverages.

Komo News in Seattle tested six beers from the stadium and found the following:

Stella Artois:
5.0% advertised ABV
4.8% tested
Bud Light:
4.2% advertised
3.9% tested
Redhook Brewery No Equal:
5.2% advertised
4.8% tested
Shocktop:
5.2% advertised
4.7% tested
Bass Pale Ale:
5.1% advertised
4.5% tested
Budweiser:
5.0% advertised
4.4% tested

Maybe this is larger part of a plan to stop fans from getting too drunk, but it seems like a pretty bad way to treat the 12th Man.

Update: Uproxx obtained the following statement from Anheuser-Busch VP David Craig.

We sell only full-strength beer in the state of Washington. The Anheuser-Busch draft beers offered at CenturyLink Field, and throughout the state, are the same as the packaged beer consumers purchase at bars, restaurants, convenience stores and other retail locations including CenturyLink Field.

We use exacting processes to monitor and test alcohol content throughout the brewing and packaging process of all our beers to ensure quality, consistency and accuracy. Laws and regulations governing alcohol requirements vary by state and we abide by all such requirements. In addition, we strictly follow federal guidelines regulating our products to make sure every package of beer that leaves our breweries meets the correct specifications for alcohol content.

We analyzed the production for the beers sampled in this instance, including alcohol levels, and found no irregularities. Based on our findings, we believe the draft beers sampled at the stadium during those dates met the specifications.

When we learned of Jon Humbert’s and KOMO-TV’s inquiry, we proactively reached out to him and also organized a conversation between Jon and one of our brewing experts to share the findings of our analysis and the technical aspects of testing beer.

Beer has unique properties, and accurately measuring its alcohol content requires specific controls, equipment and expertise. A large number of variables could affect testing results including management of the sample, equipment used and how it’s calibrated, and the testing method. In this case, the collection and transport using a plastic container, the lab and testing method could all fail to protect the alcohol content, which would explain the same variance in all samples taken.