Why Some British Pubs Are Running Out of Guinness

SOURCED FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES: Guinness’s parent company has limited the amount of the beer that U.K. wholesalers and distributors can buy each week, after surging demand led to fears of shortages.

British pubs are facing something of a crisis: They cannot get enough Guinness.

The trouble became evident last week, when the Irish beer’s parent company, Diageo, started limiting the number of barrels of Guinness that British pubs and bars can order each week.

“Over the past month we have seen exceptional consumer demand for Guinness,” Diageo said in a statement. “We have maximized supply and we are working proactively with our customers to manage the distribution to trade as efficiently as possible.”

The black liquid has surged in popularity on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in the past year. Once seen as an old-timer’s beer, it has recently become a Gen Z darling, thanks to savvy marketing, celebrity endorsements and a viral drinking challenge. Influencers and ordinary drinkers alike have been trying to “split the G,” which means drinking enough in one chug to leave the foam scything the first letter of the branded pint glasses.

But now, many pubs in Britain say they can’t buy the kegs they need during the busy festive period because of Diageo’s allocation limits. As news of the restricted supply has spread, there has been some panic-buying, analysts said, exacerbating the problem.

“It feels like the toilet roll shortages during Covid — the more coverage that comes, the worse the situation gets!” Richard Hall, the managing director of Inn Express, a wholesale drinks supplier, wrote in an email.

Some were skeptical at first. “To be honest, I thought it might have been a PR thing,” said Tommy McGuinness, the manager of The Marquis, a pub in London, of the rumors that taps were running dry. “Turns out, it’s real.”

On Saturday, his pub was down to its final keg of Guinness. The stout was going especially fast with the Christmas crowds — “the tap was nonstop pouring,” he said — with hours before closing time. Mr. McGuinness was shocked: “I’ve never run out of Guinness, ever.”

So he started reaching out to pubs nearby: Could anyone spot him? When he finally found two kegs, he and his nephew wheeled trolleys through lashing rain.

Their storage space is small, so he is living delivery to delivery. “Anybody with a cellar big enough will be ordering in bulk,” he said. “That’s what I would do — if I had the space.”

Guinness was the top beer in Britain by volume sales in the year to November, according to CGA by NIQ, a hospitality data consultancy. From July to October, Guinness keg sales were up 21 percent compared with the same period last year, while overall beer sales were flat.

Devotees love Guinness for its dark richness; other people find it too heavy and too sweet. For fans, it is not just a beer. It is almost a “personality trait,” or maybe a tie to their Irish heritage.

“If you come in and order Pepsi and we don’t have it, we’ll give you Coke,” said Andy Mac Manus, the manager of The Castle, a London pub. “There’s no real substitute for Guinness.”

The Castle asked its Guinness supplier for 12 kegs. It got only six. A second supplier had none to spare. Mr. Mac Manus believes other pubs got spooked by the shortage rumors, saying: “Some of the other sites over-ordered.”

Britain is the only place where Diageo is limiting sales. The issue was fodder for good-natured ribbing at the Irish Embassy’s Christmas party in London on Wednesday. Martin Fraser, the ambassador, assured his guests that the embassy’s supply was unaffected — and that no glass would go unfilled that evening.

For British pubs, running out of Guinness is an annoyance. But for Irish pubs, it’s drink or die. “It’s not very authentic if an Irish tavern can’t sell Guinness,” said Shaun Jenkinson, the operations director of Katie O’Brien’s, an Irish pub chain with locations throughout England.

Mr. Jenkinson said that some locations were out of Guinness on Wednesday, though by Thursday they had received deliveries and hoped to restock further over the weekend.

Still, he is surprised by what he sees as poor planning by Diageo, the parent company. He noted that Guinness’s popularity has been rising for a while, and that sales often spike in December.

Others are also frustrated. Paul Fletcher, the office manager of Small Beer, another wholesaler, expressed disappointment in an email that Guinness, a “brand leader,” is “unable to supply the demand.” He only has 60 percent of what he needs, a shortfall that he called “massive for us at this time of year.”

Some see a potential silver lining, at least for similar beers. There’s Murphy’s, another Irish stout, and Camden Stout, from London.