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Millions of pints of beer going to waste in UK as pubs stay closed amid lockdown

April 26, 2020

UK pubs continue to struggle in lockdown, with many forced to get rid of whole kegs of beer which will expire before ever reaching a glass.

Phil Cutter of The Murderers pub in Norwich was forced to pour 60 gallons of beer down the drain to the tune of the song which played as the Titantic sunk.

Mr Cutter said he felt for the brewers as well, because so much love and care goes into making the beers.

Tom Stainer of the YK's Campaign for Real Ale told the BBC that he estimates each of the UK's 39,000 pubs has, on average, 15 kegs of beer in their cellar at any one time.

The best before dates on most pasteurised beer is usually three to four months after delivery, and real ales are usually six to nine weeks.

That's forcing many pub owners to look for options to get it out the door - including one pub in Belfast which set up a mobile, contactless Guinness pouring van.

Hatfield House's service was well used, but Northern Ireland Police took a dim view, shutting down the service over concerns it broke Ireland's emergency laws.

The nationwide coronavirus lockdown has forced brewers to come up with new ways to keep their businesses afloat. (Source: Other)

A spokesperson for Hatfield House told the BBC that police had, as yet, been unable to tell them exactly which law they had broken.

Supermarket alcohol sales in the UK have increased by more than a fifth last month as many were forced to slum it with canned ales.

In the US, bar owners have been told not to empty their beer into the drains due to the fear of ecological damage.

Some publicans in the UK have expressed an interest in turned the unused beer into hand sanitiser by re-distilling the alcohol out of it, with independent brewer Brewdog already making sanitiser at its Aberdeenshire premises.

The UK government has already opened up £330b (NZ$678b) in loans, £20b (NZ$41b) in other aid, a business rates holiday and grants for retailers and pubs in order to help them get back on their feet - once things return to normal.

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