Mexico’s craft beer scene might be exploding, but for Mexican brewer Corona, perhaps success could come with fewer explosions.
A California man has been injured after a glass bottle of Corona spontaneously exploded, sending shards of glass into his leg. “It’s like they are selling glass hand grenades,” John Jay Curtis, a retired lawyer, told the New York Post yesterday.
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While walking from his kitchen to the garage with a 24-bottle case of beer, Curtis says, there was a “an explosion like someone shot off a grenade.” Pain and bleeding followed.
For Corona, this is just another in a long line of exploding bottles, the Post pointed out. In 2007, a Long Island toddler was rendered partially blind after a defective bottle exploded, leading to a $46 million lawsuit against the company. In July 2017, another rogue bottle sent shards into the eye of a Manhattan barback, who has since sued for pain, suffering, and loss of vision. In July 2018, a construction worker in Queens needed emergency surgery after yet another bottle blew into his eye.
A quick Google of “beer bottle bomb” yields plenty of results on home brew sites warning of this menace (don’t, as I mistakenly did, Google just the phrase “bottle bomb”). Apparently, this unintended result can be caused by too much sugar, too early bottling, and too much carbonation. It’s common enough that many a beer blog lists ways to avoid the problem and how to control it.
It’s not just home brewers, either. In 2014, Oregon brewer 10 Barrel Brewing Co. recalled their Swill sour after finding that some batches were still fermenting in the bottle, creating a risk for explosion. But it’s unclear why Coronas in particular seem to be susceptible to spontaneous combustion.
According to a spokesperson for Constellation Brands, Corona’s parent company, “We conduct rigorous testing throughout our production process and our bottles are designed and tested to maintain their integrity. We will investigate this matter and remain committed to ensuring that our products continue to meet our high quality standards.”
In any case, it might make sense to switch to cans for now—or perhaps this may be the most compelling argument yet for the plastic 40-ounce.
