New Zealand Woman Finds Dead Lizard In Beer

beer, New Zealand Woman Finds Dead Lizard In BeerThis would never have happened at Garage Project or 8 Wired…

American Craft Beer recently returned from a beer junket to New Zealand where we visited great breweries like Garage Project and Moa.

But we didn’t visit the brewery that brews Pure Blonde, and if this report is true – we’re thankful we didn’t.

Last weekend social media ignited with the story that a New Zealand woman had discovered a dead lizard wasting away at the bottom of a bottle of Pure Blonde – a beer that she had nearly finished!

Founded in 2004, Pure Blonde is an ultra-low carb lager that claims to have 80% less carbohydrates than regular beer.

What Pure Blonde doesn’t claim to offer is lizards – but maybe it should.

The low calorie lager is brewed by Carlton & United Breweries, a subsidiary of Foster’s Group, which in turn is owned by the global brewing giant AB InBev – and we expect that their corporate lawyers are scrambling.

According to stuff.co.nz, Donna Metcalfe was watching television (most likely rugby which runs 24/7 over there) when the unfortunate incident took place.

“I was drinking it [the bottle] and not paying any attention, and something touched my mouth. It looked like a little baby lizard, and I instantly felt really sick and thought ‘oh, you’ve got to be joking me’.”

Worried that she might have been poisoned by the decomposing reptile with an undisclosed carbohydrate count, Metcalfe rang New Zealand’s National Poison Center immediately (and we’re guessing that they didn’t have the lizard’s carbohydrate count either).

She also took to the official Pure Blonde Facebook page where she posted a picture of the lizard marinating in her beer (a picture which has since then been taken down).

Sabine Wolff, corporate affairs advisor at Carlton & United Breweries (home to Pure Blonde), issued the following statement…

“We have reached out to the consumer to understand the facts and check to see if she has any health issues. CUB is undertaking a thorough internal investigation of the issue to determine the facts”.

Yah think?

beer, New Zealand Woman Finds Dead Lizard In BeerInterestingly enough, The Drinks Business is reporting that “Metcalfe is not the first to suffer the effects of animals secreted in bottles of booze. In 2013, a woman in northern China had to receive hospital treatment after a snake preserved in rice wine jumped out of the bottle and bit her hand.”

American Craft Beer’s requests for further comment to Carlton & United remain unreturned.

Image credit: Donna Metcalfe

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