Guinness Theft

a lone man drove into the Dublin brewery, hitched his truck to a fully loaded trailer awaiting delivery to city pubs and left with 450 full kegs of beer - 180 kegs of Guinness stout, 180 kegs of U.S. lager Budweiser and 90 kegs of Danish beer Carlsberg. Each keg holds about 88 British-sized pints, the most common serving size in Ireland equivalent to 20 ounces each. The total theft involves 39,600 pints with a retail value exceeding 160,000 euros ($235,000). But what could one do with 450 kegs of beer?

In the past, the outlawed Irish Republican Army and other gangs all have highjacked truck shipments of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes for resale in pubs run by sympathizers or friends. The Republic of Ireland, a country of 4.2 million, has more than 10,000 pubs and bars. The Guinness brewery in Dublin is the biggest supplier, producing more than 5 million kegs annually. Hopefully these missing kegs are found and returned to the brewery.