There Is Currently Crisis In Europe Due To A Guinness Beer Shortage, And Pubs In England Are Being Rationed, Fearing "It Could Cripple Them"

BBC - "If I can't get it in it will probably cripple me."

That's what Steven Crosbie says about the current issues affecting Guinness supplies. As the landlord of the Liffey, an Irish pub in Liverpool, Guinness is his top seller.

Steven usually gets 12 50-litre barrels a week from his main distributor. But he says that on Wednesday, he was told he could only get one barrel this week because of allocation limits imposed by Diageo, which owns Guinness.

Landlords across the country say that their distributors have been allocating them less Guinness than usual, to make sure there's enough stock to meet demand over Christmas.

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

Enda Murray, landlord of three pubs in London, says that his supplier has restricted his supply of Guinness to one or two kegs per pub - just 10% of what they need. He says he's managed to ring-fence some from another supplier and should have enough "for the next week or two".

Pub managers say they've been scrambling to secure supplies at reasonable prices.

"It's been hard work," says Shaun Jenkinson, operations manager at Katie O'Brien's. He says he's not sure whether the chain's seven Irish pubs will have enough Guinness to make it through the weekend.

Other operators he's spoken to "really are on their bare bones," as some ran out of Guinness on Friday night, he says.

Some landlords say that pubs have been "panic buying" Guinness. Patrick Fitzsimons, landlord of the Faltering Fullback in Finsbury Park, London, says this "has dried up the market even further." He says his pub has a small cellar which means it needs continuous deliveries - he can't stockpile like others.

Hey everybody, we need to discuss global crisis, and no, I’m not talking about inflation or climate change. I’m talking about something far more urgent: a Guinness shortage. That's right, the nectar of the Irish gods is running low, and it’s hitting pubs across the UK.

This story out of Liverpool is absolutely bananas. Steven Crosbie, who runs the Liffey pub (great name), usually slings out 12 massive barrels of Guinness a week. (An absurd amount of beer to go through period. Nevermind just one brand/style)

Now? He’s being rationed to one barrel. 

Let me put this in perspective for you: that’s like telling a pizza joint they can only have one mozzarella ball for the entire weekend. The man straight up said, "If I can't get it in, it will probably cripple me." That’s not hyperbole; that’s a death knell for an Irish pub.

And it’s not just Liverpool. Across London, pub landlords are pulling their hair out trying to scrape together a few kegs of the black stuff. Diageo, the company that owns Guinness, says it’s trying to "manage the distribution" because of "exceptional demand." Exceptional demand? That sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. Guiness didn't just all of a sudden blow up out of nowhere. Seems like they've had a steady fanbase and rock solid marketshare forever. So what exactly gives? 

Well I'll tell you. According to the BBC, Guinness sales have gone up by 20% in kegs compared to last year. That’s a fifth! And guess who we have to thank? Young people. Yep, Gen Z and millennials have ditched their White Claws and Aperol Spritzes to chase a new trend: "splitting the G." 

(For the uninitiated, like myself, apparently that’s when you take a big enough gulp of Guinness to land the foam right in the middle of the "G" on the glass. It’s the kind of TikTok nonsense that makes me want to shake my fist at the cloud but also... respect the hustle.)

But the “Guinness influencers” (yes, that’s a thing now) aren’t the only problem. Pubs, in a panic, have been stockpiling Guinness like it’s toilet paper in March 2020. That, in turn, has dried up the market even further. It’s chaos, people. Absolute chaos.

The substitutes? Camden Stout or Murphy’s. And look, I’m sure they’re fine for the casual stout drinker. But for your die-hard Guinness loyalist, suggesting they drink Camden Stout is like handing a Yankees fan a Mets cap and saying, “Close enough.”

Meanwhile, Guinness 0.0—the non-alcoholic version- is quietly thriving, making up 3% of the global Guinness volume. I don’t know what to do with that information other than assume the world has completely lost its mind.

I audibly gasped when I read this part of the article - 

And as more people are drinking non-alcoholic beer, sales of the zero-alcohol beer Guinness 0.0 are strong too - it now accounts for nearly 3% of total Guinness volume globally.

The limits on Guinness supplies come at a particularly busy time of year for pubs, which see large gatherings for Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Steven from the Liffey says that if pubs do run out of Guinness, he expects people to go from "bar to bar" in search of places that are still stocking it.

You mean to tell me people drink this stuff just for the flavor, and not to get buzzed/tipsy/hammered? 

Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: why is this shortage mostly in Great Britain while Ireland’s taps are still flowing like the River Liffey itself? Diageo claims it’s about “allocation limits,” but I have a sneaking suspicion this is some kind of karmic payback for all those Brexit shenanigans. 

The Irish are over there laughing in their pubs while Brits are sprinting from bar to bar, desperately hunting for a pint like it’s the last golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s factory.

At the end of the day, this Guinness shortage is more than just a pub problem- it’s a cultural emergency. This would be like Italy running low on olive oil. Or America not having any high fructose corn syrup to supply all our fat diabetics. We need answers. We need solutions. And most importantly, we need pints for our friends in the UK. If Steven Crosbie’s pub, and those like it, go under because they can’t get their hands on more Guinness, then we’ve officially failed as a society.

Clean it the fuck up Diageo. Or shut it down. 

p.s. - I've been lucky enough to visit many countries in Europe. But I still have yet to visit the Emerald Isle- Ireland. I actually get my EU passport next week so I have the perfect excuse to get over there asap. It looks like the most beautiful place in the world, and I have been dying to go for years. I just need to do it right. For those who have been or have family there, where do I start, and where do I need to visit? How do I get around? What do I avoid because its a waste of time or overhyped, and what is an absolute must? I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions - dante@barstoolsports.com