Beer is running short at some Tokyo-area retailers as brewers struggle with damage to their factories from the quake-tsunami disasters, and subsequent power outages.
Among major brewers, Sapporo Breweries Ltd. and Asahi Breweries Ltd. each had two beer factories damaged by the disaster, while Kirin Brewery Co. had a manufacturer of materials for its beer cans affected as well as its Sendai factory.
Sapporo, whose Chiba factory serving the metropolitan area also suffered damage, has begun bottling and canning beer produced before the quake but has been unable to restart the process of preparing ingredients for brewing, an official said.
Asahi, whose factories in Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures were affected, cannot boil malt at its Kanagawa Prefecture factory on days of rolling blackouts as the process requires delicate temperature management, an official of the company said.
The manager of a convenience store in Tokyo said it is receiving beer products from the delivery center only three days a week compared with the previous six days.