Kate Davidson, landlady of the Old Ivy House in Clerkenwell, central London has resorted to issuing ration cards to customers – meaning they can only get a Guinness if they buy two other drinks first.
“It’s been a bit of a talking point,” she says.
She says that she usually gets eight kegs of Guinness a week but was limited to four, leaving her with just one barrel by Friday morning – containing 88 pints.
She expects to run out this weekend and her next delivery is not until Wednesday.
“I don’t think it will impact us too much to be honest,” she said, staying optimistic that customers will buy other drinks instead.
The Marquis pub in Covent Garden, central London, said it temporarily ran out of Guinness for one night last weekend.
It is understood that Diageo is managing its allocation limits on Guinness on a weekly basis and trying to avoid panic buying before the festive period.
“We have maximised supply and we are working proactively with our customers to manage the distribution to trade as efficiently as possible,” the company said in a statement.
Guinness sales have recently been bucking market trends, according to data from food and drinks industry research firm CGA.
While overall beer drinking was slightly down between July and October, the volume of Guinness consumed from kegs was up more than fifth.
Some have pointed to so-called “Guinnfluencers” on social media for helping to bolster the black stout’s popularity among women and young people.
Beer shortages in the UK are rare but normally linked to supply chain issues.
In 2021 the Wetherspoon pub chain said some of its branches had ran out of Heineken, Carling and Coors amid a HGV driver shortage.
