THOUSANDS upon thousands of barrels of beer are set to be written off and thrown away thanks to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Because of lockdown measures, hospitality - as an industry - is currently on its knees, and any beer purchased or brewed before the onset of social restrictions is more or less unusable.
Instead of nestling in glass betwixt our hands with the sunshine on our backs, the beer will instead be converted into animal feed, or simply just poured away.
The losses could equal millions of pints' worth of beer in Ireland and brewers will be footing the bill.
Pubs around the country were closed on March 15 and have remained shut ever since.
Lockdown restrictions have since been extended to May 5 at the very earliest, but even if people are allowed out of their houses by then, which is anything but assured, it's highly unlikely that pubs and places where social-gatherings are likely to occur will be allowed to function as normal.
Most beer barrels have roughly a four-month shelf-life, though real ale barrels expire within a two weeks of being delivered.
Unless the pubs are allowed to reopen soon, plenty of Ireland's beer will be going to waste.
To make matters worse, most pubs and bars will have stocked themselves up to the brim ahead of St. Patrick's Day.
Thankfully however, a number of high-profile brewers agreed to take unused stock back from pubs since their doors were forcibly shut and have issued pub owners with credit notes.
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