Fears have risen over a nationwide favourite beer potentially running out before the festive period after an increase in demand.
In case you forgot, it's December, meaning that Christmas is around the corner. Not only does that mean breaking out the tree and dusting off all the decorations that have been hiding in storage for the past 11 months, but it also means that festive food and drinks are back.
Mince pies and gingerbread cookies are back in season, while hot chocolates on colder nights are a staple - but what about festive alcoholic beverages?
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Well, we all know Bailey's is a favourite, often mixed in with hot chocolate, but when someone says a Christmas pint, what's the first drink that comes to mind?
If you're leaning towards a drink from Ireland, then you're on the right track.
Sadly though, it looks like some British pubs may struggle to keep it in stock until the lead up to Christmas, as the drink reaches its peak annual popularity due to what has been described as 'exceptional consumer demand', as reported by The Irish News.
If you haven't guessed already, we're talking about Guinness, as the owners of the company, Diageo, have spoken out about the possibility of the drink running out altogether in the UK this month.
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A company spokesperson revealed to The Morning Advertiser: “Over the past month we have seen exceptional consumer demand for Guinness in GB.
"We have maximised supply and we are working proactively with our customers to manage the distribution to trade as efficiently as possible.”
This spike in popularity was so unanticipated in fact, that figures from the Curren Goodden Associates (CGA) don't reportedly have any data currently available for Diageo to assess.
The latest data, which documents volumes of keg Guinness drank in October, revealed a 20 percent increase year on year, while records showed that Guinness sales were up 18.8 percent compared to the same period from last year, as reported by JOE.co.uk.
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It is also widely believed that events like the Autumn Rugby Internationals have caused this unexpected spike, the outlet says.
Some popular beers are set to be fully removed from pubs come Christmas, as Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company is getting rid of 11 classic British cask beers this month, resulting in The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) publicly criticising the decision.
There may be a bit less Guinness to go around, but at least it's not off the table completely, eh?
LADbible has contacted Diageo for further comment.
Topics: Christmas, Food And Drink, Alcohol, Pubs, UK News
Joshua Nair