Great Guinness heist: British thieves stole truck carrying 35,000 pints

Revealed: lorry with 400 kegs of the Irish stout onboard disappeared from Northamptonshire depot, sources say

A truck carrying 400 50-litre kegs of the Irish stout – equivalent to 35,200 pints – disappeared from a depot in the Midlands in mid-December. File photo

In the days leading up to Christmas, UK stout-lovers were left reeling from a nationwide shortage of Guinness so severe that some pubs were forced to ration pints of the “black stuff” as taps began to run dry.

Supermarkets remain at risk of running out due to customers’ stockpiling, according to reports, while the maker of the popular stout, Diageo, has even sent for back-up Guinness reserves from Ireland.