Pubs With No Beer Loom in Australia

Australian pub-goers are facing their worst nightmare: a beer drought that is threatening to bite at the start of the thirsty summer season.

The country's third-biggest brewer is struggling to produce limited supplies after a gas plant fire on New Year's Day threatened energy supplies to two states.

Coopers Brewery in Adelaide, one of Australia's oldest producers, had to suspend a dozen brews last week and could face restrictions until March.

John Osborne, manager of the Rising Sun in the Clare Valley, north of Adelaide, said the threat of cutbacks was a big worry.

The idea of having to get through the summer without a drop of the amber nectar is horrifying enough in Australia to have inspired a hit song. A Pub with No Beer, recorded by the late Slim Dusty, lamented: "There's a-nothin' so lonesome, morbid or drear, Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer".

Coopers produces 40m litres of beer a year, but stocks are already low after a hot December saw sales jumping 18%.