Guinness is Running Dry in U.K. Pubs. Is a Social Media Challenge to Blame?

The Washington Post

16:43 JST, December 21, 2024

A widespread shortage of a beloved brew in Britain has led one pub to distribute ration cards to customers. Employees at another pub wheeled kegs through rain just to obtain a small supply. A distributor said the drought could lead to the end of some businesses.

Guinness, the Irish beer known for its dark color and foamy top, is running dry in the United Kingdom.

Diageo, a beverage company that owns Guinness, said there’s been a sharp increase in British demand for the beer in the past month. The stout has become especially popular due to a viral social media challenge called “split the G,” which involves drinking enough in one chug that the foam touches the “G” on the brand’s pint glasses.

Some U.K. pubs said they’ve run out of Guinness, for the first time ever, during a month when the beer is typically a staple of holiday gatherings. That’s left them in flux, asking new distributors and other pubs for the stout – even just a single keg – and developing strategies to conserve Guinness and advertise their other beers.

“If you come in and ask what kind of white wine have you got, you’re happy to look at a menu or try something new,” Andy Mac Manus, general manager of the Castle, a London pub, told The Washington Post. “But with Guinness, there isn’t a replacement.”

Diageo spokesperson Rebecca Perry said in a statement that the company is “working proactively with our customers to manage the distribution to trade as efficiently as possible.”

Guinness used to be seen as an “old man’s drink,” Mac Manus said. But in recent years, the brand has built a following with young and female drinkers, according to CGA by NIQ, a research consultancy headquartered in England. Guinness was the most purchased beer in Britain between November 2023 and last month, according to the consultancy, even as overall beer sales in the U.K. fell this summer and fall.

The “split the G” challenge has been gaining popularity for a few years, racking up performances by celebrities, including singers Ed Sheeran, Niall Horan and Joe Jonas and actor Jason Momoa. There’s even an app that measures whether someone succeeded in the challenge.

This year, Guinness gained more notoriety after it became the Premier League’s official beer and more celebrities advertised the brand, including pop star Olivia Rodrigo, who wore a shirt that said “GUINNESS is GOOD 4 U” during a concert in Dublin in the spring. And demand for the beer spikes every winter, Mac Manus said, because it’s a symbol for “blustery wintry days and getting cozy in a nice pub.”

Mac Manus, 45, said Guinness drinkers are “committed” to the beer. So even though the pub makes less of a profit off Guinness than other beers, Mac Manus said “you kind of have to have it.”

But last week, Mac Manus said his Guinness supplier gave him six kegs – half of what he normally receives per week. Three days later, the Castle ran out of Guinness – with four days to go until it received another shipment.

Mac Manus contacted new suppliers for kegs, he said, but they barely had enough for their existing customers. Ultimately, a neighboring pub that had a large cellar space – allowing it to stock up on Guinness – gave two kegs to Mac Manus. Another order came from his supplier Wednesday, Mac Manus said, still containing only half of what he ordered.

Mac Manus, who grew up around his father’s bar in Mullingar, Ireland, said he had never seen Guinness run short on supply. He said he initially suspected that Guinness was fibbing about the shortage to gain publicity.

But the issue grew across the U.K. At the Old Ivy House, another London pub, Guinness is typically the best-selling drink. The pub even posts photos of customers who complete the “split the G” challenge on a designated wall.

But last week, the pub received four kegs of Guinness – instead of the requested eight – from its supplier, Kate Davidson, the pub’s co-owner, said in an email to The Post. She made ration cards to distribute to customers, requiring them to finish two other drinks before they could buy a Guinness. The pub ran out of the beer a few days later and placed an overturned glass on its tap to indicate that it wasn’t available.

“We thought on our feet and tried to make something fun out of it,” Davidson said of the ration cards, “rather than just saying, ‘We’ve run out’ like everyone else.”

Guinness is a staple of Irish pubs in England, such as Katie O’Brien’s. But Shaun Jenkinson, the pub’s operations director, said in an email that Katie O’Brien’s, which has multiple locations, hasn’t been receiving enough Guinness in roughly the past two weeks to fulfill all its customers’ orders.

To add to his frustration, Jenkinson said, Diageo hasn’t informed his pub when the shortage will be solved.

“This has been an incredibly inconvenient challenge to deal with at the busiest time,” Jenkinson said.

Some pubs operated by Amber Taverns, an English pub company, haven’t received any Guinness deliveries this week, operations director Gary Roberts said in an email.

Murphy’s Irish Stout, owned by Heineken, has spiked in popularity since Guinness began running low, Roberts said. Amber Taverns has even spearheaded a challenge similar to “split the G” called “miss the Murphy’s,” in which drinkers try to keep the black liquid above “Murphy’s” on the branded pint glasses on their first sips, and then try to drink until the liquid is below the name on their second sips.

Roberts isn’t the only one who’s aiming to introduce drinkers to beers other than Guinness. The Campaign for Real Ale, a consumer organization based in St. Albans, England, recently promoted 12 stouts from small British breweries as replacements for Guinness.

“I hope they feel inspired to discover new tastes after browsing at the bar, which could lead to adding more independent stouts to the list of drinks they love this Christmas – and thereafter,” Ash Corbett-Collins, the organization’s chairman, said in a statement to The Post.

But Richard Hall, managing director for the Inn Express Drinks Distributor in England, said in an email that Guinness is “an iconic brand” that some pubs fret over trying to replace. Demand for Guinness will probably only increase the rest of the year, Hall said.

Nonetheless, he said the shortage won’t stop British people from partying.

“Pubs are still busy,” Hall said. “They all have a great range of products that can more than cater for all visitors to their premises and ensure we can all have a great Christmas.”