The amount of Guinness pubs in the UK can buy before Christmas has been limited by Diageo after exceptional demand in recent weeks.
Diageo is working at 100% production capacity, but has still placed limits on orders in Britain.
The supply of Guinness to pubs in Ireland is not affected.
Publican Shane Long has two pubs in London – The Hope in Fitzrovia, and Uxbridge Arms in Nottinghill. He said there were rumours that Diageo might have to limit supply 4 weeks ago, and pubs in Britain got official confirmation last week.
“We’ll get through it,” Mr Long told Morning Ireland. “People are going to go out anyway, and there is a lot of competition in that space which wasn’t there before, so I’m not as worried as I would have been a couple of years ago.”
Guinness has grown in popularity in the UK in recent years, particularly among young people.
Mr Long believes the surge in demand also stems from the pandemic. “I think after Covid, people were looking for things that they couldn’t replicate at home – draught stout was one of them and cocktails was the other, so we saw a spike in both of those.”
Recent rugby internationals in Britain also put a strain on supplies.
Generally, Guinness sales are bucking market trends in the UK, 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 a fifth.
And while the non-alcoholic stout, Guinness 0.0, is growing in popularity in Ireland, it has yet to take off in the UK, according to Mr Long.
The shortage of Guinness in Britain will not affect the supply here.
A spokesperson from Diageo Ireland said, ”As we move into the busy Christmas period, we will make all deliveries to our customers across the island of Ireland, as planned and without disruption’’.