Beer still on tap: brewery men go back

Press, 16 April 1979, Page 1

Beer still on tap: brewery men go back

Stocks of draught and bottled beer are low in some Christchurch hotels but it is unlikely that the city will run “dry."

The breweries strike, which has left some hotels struggling to make supplies last the long weekend. has finished and workers are expected to return to their jobs tomorrow.

Stocks of draught beer at the Imperial Hotel were expected to last until this evening but bottled beer had virtually been sold out by last evening, said the hotel’s manager, (Mr E. Hunter). Warner’s Hotel had considerable stocks of bottled beer which were expected to last well into the week.

Mr Hunter said that even if the brewery workers went back to work tomorrow it could take until Friday for most hotels to get fresh supplies of bottled beer. However, he did not expect delays in getting draught beer. The breweries had stocks on hand and would begin delivering as soon as they reopened. The managers of the Belfast and Lancaster Park hotels expected their stocks of draught beer to last until tomorrow. The Lancaster Park Hotel had stopped selling flagons and the Belfast Hotel was supplying flagons to regular customers only.

The Bush Inn Hotel had run out of draught beer but still had stocks of bottled beer. A manager of Burkes Caterers, Ltd, Mr R. H. Rattray, said there was no danger of beer supplies running out at the Easter race meeting at Riccarton today. A spokesman for the Templeton Country Club said that the club's stocks of bottled and draught beer would last at least until tomorrow. The bar manager of the McLeans Island Country Club (Mr R. E. Patterson) expected his stocks of draught beer to have run out by today but had enough bottled beer to last at least another day.