AUSTRALIANS FACE BEER SHORTAGE

Australian beer drinkers are threatened with a beer shortage as the thirsty
summer season begins. Coopers Brewery in Adelaide, the third largest brewer,
had to temporarily suspend brewing week after a gas plant fire on New Year's
Day threatened energy supplies to two states. While limited brewing has
resumed, publicans said they were concerned they may not be able to keep up
with drinkers' demands. "I'm quite worried, to be quite frank," Rising Sun
publican and owner John Osborne told ABC radio. Coopers, one of Australia's
oldest producers, could face brewing restrictions until March. The brewery

entered 2004 with low stocks because December sales were up 18%.