Some Cardiff pubs have run out of Guinness amid a UK-wide shortage. The City Arms, on Quay Street, and the Head of Steam, on Church Street, are both out of the popular Irish stout — though not all the Welsh capital’s boozers are bereft of the black stuff.
Guinness owner Diageo says demand is at “unprecedented levels” and has reportedly been raiding its reserves in Ireland to boost shipments to the UK, where social media trends have seen the beer’s popularity surge. City Arms landlord Gary Corp told WalesOnline: “It’s terrible. We can’t get it. It’s a great shame and it doesn’t help my pocket.
“We are under the Marston’s umbrella so we’ve just been having in what the brewery is sending us. It lasts a day or two and then it’s gone. We last had it in on Thursday and we’d run out by Saturday. I won’t have it until Friday at the very earliest, which is not great at this time of year because it’s one of my biggest sellers.” For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
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Normally the City Arms sells around 22 barrels’ worth of Guinness each week. But since the scarcity began around three weeks ago, Mr Corp’s weekly deliveries have only contained around 10 barrels. “It’s been really busy in fairness, so I can’t grumble,” the 64-year-old added. “But we would have been busier if we’d had Guinness in. Often, Guinness drinkers are Guinness drinkers — they don’t like anything else and they will walk somewhere else if you don’t have it. They are quite unique in that way.”
Mr Corp has heard rumours the emergency closure of the storm-damaged Holyhead port could be a factor in the shortage. “I think they can’t get the beer out of Ireland, that’s the problem,” he said. “Hopefully it’s back to normal after Christmas. We’ve got the Six Nations coming up and Ireland will be visiting for that, then we’ve got St Patrick’s Day and the Gold Cup, so it needs to get back on track.”
Ben “Woody” Ringwood-Walker, deputy manager of the Head of Steam, said the pub usually gets six to eight kegs of Guinness each week but in recent weeks that has dropped to three or fewer. The latest delivery came on Thursday — and all the Guinness was gone on Friday. Mr Ringwood-Walker said the stout is one of the pub’s biggest sellers, adding: “There’s been a massive uptick in younger Guinness drinkers, and a lot more women. A few years ago it was seen as an old man’s drink but now there are lots of 18-year-olds getting a pint of Guinness.”
Head of Steam, Cardiff -Credit:Mark Lewis
He believes the drink has been boosted by the “splitting the G” phenomenon — in which people try to drink enough beer on their opening sip that the line between stout and foam sits halfway up the letter G on the glass. Guinness has also recently received nods of approval from trend-setting celebrities Kim Kardashian and Olivia Rodrigo.
Mr Ringwood-Walker said the absence of Guinness has not hit business because the Head of Steam has “lots of different lines so there’s always an alternative”. He feels a “silver lining” of the shortage has been customers trying other stouts like Mumbles Brewery’s Oystermouth or Brew York’s Tonkoko for the first time. “We’ve had record-breaking days this month so it’s been a fantastic Christmas, but I’m quite glad it’s almost over,” he said with a laugh.
The Queen’s Vaults, on Westgate Street, has had no trouble getting Guinness and is actually “overstocked”, said an employee who asked to remain anonymous. “We’re a locally owned pub so maybe they’ve given us priority or something. We’ve been absolutely fine for Guinness. We always overstock everything in our pub, just in case. We get a lot of old customers who’ve always drunk Guinness but if more young people are drinking it because of TikTok dances and splitting the G, then any publicity is good publicity.”
The Halfway, in Pontcanna’s Cathedral Road, said the shortage “hasn’t affected us too much” but expects to be out of Guinness by the weekend. Normally the pub gets six kegs delivered each week but that was down to four this week. “We’ve a limited amount, the same as everywhere else pretty much,” the staff member added.
According to the Guardian, the Guinness reserves are usually earmarked for Irish customers but are now being used to ease pressure on UK pubs struggling to satisfy new fans of the stout. The newspaper reports that some pubs have been using Guinness ration cards to make sure customer get their fair share. A Diageo spokesperson said: “We are producing more Guinness today than we ever have in our 265-year history, and we continue to work closely with customers across our network to manage Guinness distribution as efficiently as possible, ensuring we maximise supply and minimise disruptions for pubs and retailers.”
Diageo said a “phased replenishment” in the new year would help UK Guinness supplies return to normal. The London-based multinational is building a £166million Guinness brewery in County Kildare. Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news.