Ireland has given a lot of great things to the world. St Patrick’s Day celebrations, a delightful accent, Paul Mescal, but most of all, Guinness.
Guinness has been around for a long time, but it’s safe to say it’s having a moment right now. Suddenly everyone and their mother is trying to ‘split the G’, despite previously only enjoying sweet ciders and glasses of white wine. The spike in popularity is partly due to ‘guinn-fluencers’ (yes, that’s a real thing) who have encouraged more young people and women to get involved and try out the stout, but it’s starting to put a bit of a strain on the supplier.
Diageo, which distils the drink, has announced that it will be imposing limits on British pubs and restaurants over the Christmas period to ensure that there’s enough for everyone to have their fair share. This won’t affect Irish retailers, so you only need to be concerned if you’re in the UK.
We’ve broken down the current Guinness situation for you, so you know exactly what you’re dealing with next time you head to the pub hoping for a pint of the black stuff.
RECOMMENDED: Why is Guinness so popular?
Is there a Guinness shortage?
The quick answer is that no, there’s no shortage of the drink, there’s just not enough to meet what the suppliers are describing as ‘exceptional consumer demand’.
The amount of people who want a pint of Guinness just doesn’t match up to how much Diageo are physically able to make in their breweries. It’s just gotten too popular.
A spokesperson for the brand said that they, ‘have maximised supply and we are working proactively with our customers to manage the distribution to trade as efficiently as possible.’
In order to address these discrepancies, Diageo is limiting the amount of kegs that any one business can buy, and they’re monitoring this every week. This is to make sure that they don’t run out of supplies before the festive period is up, and to prevent pubs panic-buying.
Despite Diageo’s measures, several pubs throughout the UK have said they’re running dry – or that they could run dry in the lead-up to Christmas.
Why are pubs running out of Guinness?
Pubs are running out primarily because of extraordinary levels of demand, and some places are running out because other pubs are stockpiling.
The shortage has led to one London pub introducing ‘Guinness ration cards’.
Why has Guinness become so popular?
From its aesthetic and popularity on dating apps to the challenge to ‘split the G’, there are loads of reasons why Guinness’s popularity has jettisoned in recent years. You can find Time Out’s lowdown on the Guinness obsession here.
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