NFL stadium accused of watering down beer

SEATTLE, WA -- An undercover study shows football fans are being sold watered-down beer when they attend games in Seattle, ABC affiliate KOMO-TV reports.

The TV station collected six samples of draft beer during a Seahawks game and a Sounders game at CenturyLink Field. They kept the vials of beer to lab stands and sent them to IEH Labs to test their alcohol content.

The results show all six beers at the stadium are not as advertised:

• 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

KOMO's report points out that it's against Federal law for vendors to sell beer that is 0.3% below the advertised content.

CenturyLink Field refused to comment on the reports. But Anheuser-Busch, who provides 5 of the 6 beers to the stadium, had plenty to say. It issued this statement to ESPN's Darrell Rovell:

"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."

The lab that conducted the testing defended its results saying its not uncommon to have a slight drop off in alcohol content after pouring beer. However, it maintains the results of this study show something isn't right.

Fans took to Twitter to express their thoughts on the study.

This isn't the first professional sports stadium to experience a beer conspiracy.

Earlier this year, FedEx Field in Washington and Camden Yards in Baltimore were both caught selling expired beer. And in 2008, a local paper discovered Petco Park in San Diego was using "stadium kegs" which are intentionally watered down versions of beers.

Do you think this is an isolated incident, happens everywhere or is simply a flawed study? Let us know in the comments below!