Guinness-less Christmas in the cards as pubs run dry across the UK

Guinness lovers are facing a true nightmare before Christmas as kegs run dry at pubs across the UK. Some pubs have reportedly already completely run out of stock of the classic Irish beer while others are issuing limits and restrictions on customers.

The devastating reality comes after some establishments were seen panic buying ahead of the festive season in a vain attempt to avoid running dry during their busiest time of year. In reaction to this, many breweries began implementing caps on the amount of kegs pubs could purchase at a single time.

This supply chain debacle was paired with a timeous rise in popularity as the Guinness Challenge took over social media and introduced the dark beer to demographics it hadn’t previously been favoured in like young people. Leading to an unprecedented surge for Guinness this year.

As a result, Guinness maker Diageo had to restrict the supply of the beer to pubs in England, Wales and Scotland. A spokesperson for Diageo previously told The Independent: “Over the past month we have seen exceptional consumer demand for Guinness in GB. We have maximised supply and we are working proactively with our customers to manage the distribution to trade as efficiently as possible.”

Pub owners across the UK have taken action to try to make their supplies last throughout the festive season, if they still have reserves at all. Although many fear they will leave customers “disappointed” at Christmas.

Landlady of the Old Ivy House in London, Katie Davidson, told The Times they had started issuing cards to customers which would allow them to buy one pint of Guinness after buying two other drinks. The pub usually goes through around seven barrels on an average week, which increases during high demand seasons like Christmas, but this December her brewery restricted her purchase to just 4 barrels.

She said: “On Wednesday, when I got my order, we only had half a barrel left in the cellar at the busiest time of the year. And we’d run out by 10pm on Friday night,” Katie added. Owners of The Liffey pub in Liverpool officially emptied their last barrel last Wednesday, according to the BBC, after their main distributor was only able to deliver one barrel instead of the usual 12.