Sorry, no beer for you, Britain!

‘KEEP your jabs and we’ll keep our beer’ was the message this week from Irish brewing giants as UK pubs struggle with supply.

As Ireland prepares for the great outdoor reopening, drinks industry sources insisted there is no question of Ireland exporting beer to the UK and leaving stocks short here.

At the Heineken plant in Cork alone, 8.5 million pints will be brewed during May and June to satisfy demand.

A source told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘We’re lucky in that we brew most of our beer here. It’s true that the UK is looking to import more to meet demand but we’ll be looking after our own markets first.’

Another employee of a large brewing company said ‘pressure from the UK notwithstanding’, the pubs here would be well supplied come June 7.

‘God knows people have waited long enough; we’ll be supplying our own customers first,’ said the source, who added there would be ‘huge pent-up demand’.

The UK was forced to look to European breweries for extra supplies after its reopening sparked a run on beer.

Heineken was forced to limit sales of two of its beers, Birra Moretti and Amstel, restricting supplies to three kegs per pub. Stocks of other major brands and craft beers also ran low, according to the UK Vintners’ Association.

A spokesman for Heineken UK said the company was now ‘linking to its other breweries in other European countries to meet demand’. But a spokeswoman for Heineken Ireland insisted the Cork brewery would have more than enough to service Ireland’s tipplers first.

Sharon Walsh, of Heineken Ireland, told the MoS: ‘In preparation for the re-opening of outdoor service at pubs, the Heineken brewery has been ramping up activity. Brewery staff in Cork will brew 8.5 million pints (or 95,000 kegs) in May and June to ensure the on-trade is fully stocked for the re-opening.’