ANALYSIS: The allure of Guinness

The MA broke the news Diageo was experiencing “exceptional consumer demand for Guinness in GB” and fears of a shortage during the festive period are being experienced.

Guinness 4.1% ABV stout has been the success story of the pub trade in recent times and its 0.0 variant has been booming as well.

Data from CGA in October 2024 showed volumes sales of kegged Guinness had risen by 20% year on year – yet sales have risen further since then.

The supply issue seems to be affecting Great Britain only as Ireland continues to be able to keep up with keg requests from the on-trade.

Celebs supping on Guinness

Famous people have been enjoying ‘the craic’ when it comes to drinking Guinness in recent years, such as fashionista Kim Kardashian, who supped on a pint during a visit to London.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, perhaps better known across the world as William and Kate, visited the Guinness premises in Dublin and were snapped tucking into a couple of pints too.

And US singer Olivia Rodrigo – who has released just two albums by the age of 21 yet has amassed close to 40m followers on Instagram – also showed her affinity for a Guinness when in London.

And ‘Splitting the G’ – where one tries to bisect the G on the Guinness glass logo with a big initial swig of the pint – has become a phenomenon on social media platforms including Instagram and Facebook.

One such antagonist in this realm is Dublin man Daragh Curran, who has made a living by using YouTube and socials with a razor-sharp his focus on rating Guinness (and other stouts on occasions) across the world.

Formerly known as the Guinness Guru, Curran told The MA Lock In Podcast: “In terms of beer and alcohol, Guinness is by far the one you can talk about in more detail – and it actually looks as good after it’s drunk.

“It has to be a really authentic pub with the right atmosphere. Hygiene, lines must be cleaned and cleaned right.” He cited issues with pubs not using dedicated glass washers and grease can get onto glasses from dirty food plates and this ruins the Guinness standards.

He added Guinness doesn’t travel too well and definitely tastes better in Ireland. “Guinness in the middle of Vietnam isn’t going to taste as good as Guinness in Dublin. Let’s call a spade a spade.”

Stout leanings in London

It’s not just famous people grabbing a piece of the Guinness market, there have to be some pubs making it trendy and the Devonshire is a perfect example of how London has really caught the stout bug.

Oisin Rogers and Charlie Carroll opened the Denman Street pub a year ago in the City of Westminster near Piccadilly Circus. Even now, the pub is always packed with Guinness kegs lining any available space towards the rear of the site.

It became one of the few testing sites outside Ireland for Guinness 0.0, which has enjoyed volume and value sales boosts year on year to November 2024 of 1,079.3% and 1,140.7% respectively in the UK on-trade, according to CGA statistics used in The MA’s The Drinks List: Top Brands to Stock in 2025.

The MA spotted a strong ground swell for the stout category some time ago and released a feature on International Stout Day last year.

It cited CGA data that showed UK pubs sold an average of 3.8m pints of Guinness every week and was available in some 36,000 pubs.

Guinness category marketing director Anna Macdonald said at the time: “Consistency plays a big role. We think a lot about what the consistent elements of the brand are, and how we carry them forward. Among our most consistent elements is the iconic one quarter white and three quarters black pint; this is unmistakably Guinness and our most memorable key brand asset.

“Ensuring people get to enjoy a perfect pint of Guinness, every time, is key.”

Who is benefiting from the lack of Guinness supplies?

According to four-time Beer Writer of the Year Pete Brown, the main beneficiaries of Guinness not making into pubs will be alternative brands of nitro stouts.

Brown wrote in an opinion article for The Morning Advertiser (The MA) the short-term victory will be with other brands and this offers pubs, bars and their customers the opportunity to try something different in the stout world and perhaps see off the “regular increases to the price of Guinness”.

He added the pubs that will be worst hit will be sites that sell a lot of Guinness. He explained those selling a keg or two per week will not notice too much of a difference but if you’re losing out on 20 to 30 kegs – and you’re likely to be an Irish-style pub – Guinness is probably the reason why people visit.

One brand that is keen to emphasise its ascendancy in the short time Guinness supplies have been slowed is London-based brewer Anspach & Hobday.

Chairman & co-founder Jack Hobday explained demand for the business’s London Black nitro porter variant has seen “a huge increase”.

In the past 11 months at its taproom, the Arch House, in Bermondsey, London Black revenues were three times higher than the next best-selling beer, Ansbacher Premium Lager and 110% up year on year.

It has seen a surge of 72% in volume sales in the past three months year on year.

Hobday added: “London Black was already flying before Diageo’s drought on Guinness. Since then we have been inundated.

“It’s been a difficult year for UK pubs and to lose a key line at any time of year is hard but especially over Christmas. We’re doing our best to offer up London Black; even as we scale up brewing, we are having to implement a waiting list to manage the demand and protect our existing customers.

“I am sure when this is over, some lines won’t go back to Diageo.

“This is the perfect time for pubs to try something new, there’s plenty of dark beers out there. The episode highlights the weakness of the tie and the monopolies that exist.

“While Guinness, as I understand it, appears to have secured supply for Ireland first, perhaps this gives the perfect opportunity for pub managers with the freedom to try local stout and porter with their customers.”

Meanwhile, Peter Brennan, managing director of Brennan’s Irish Stout, which is sold via T&R Theakston pubs in the UK, said: “We are building slowly while supporting our stockists and partners what way we can and with the approach of Brennan’s being a nice alternative to Guinness, which people are looking for, and to have our brand on a bar alongside other high-profile brands we are very humbled and excited for the future.”

In fact, the Greyhound Inn in Warslow, Staffordshire, posted on Facebook it has switched from Guinness to Brennan’s.

There are many other stout and porter brands out there, as stated in The MA feature on stout a year ago.

Black Heart from BrewDog, Joseph Holt’s Trailblazer, Blackshore Stout by Adnams and Woodforde’s Brewery’s Albion Cream Stout are just a few happy to take on the king of the category but there are many more trying to steal a march, including Wye Valley brewery’s Nightjar, Camden Brewery’s Stout Smooth, Mena Dhu from St Austell and Greene King-owned Belhaven Black.

What’s for sure is Guinness is enjoying high times and has always been the favourite stout for most drinkers of the category but there’s plenty of market space for others and long may be the drinking up time be for all of them.