Emergency beer requested after US troops drink Iceland dry

A brewery in Iceland was forced to send out emergency supplies to bars in the country’s capital Reykjavík after 7,000 US NATO troops descended on the city and caused a severe beer shortage.

According to local media, the city’s bars appear to have been wholly unprepared for the arrival of the military, having not stocked up with beer to seem them through the Americans’ four-day stay.

Icelandic news site Vísir reported that the soldiers opted for local beers over those that had been imported and were “very willing to sample different microbrews as well as the more popular standard lagers”.

According to reports, it is estimated that between 6,000 and 7,000 American U.S. military personnel travelled to Reykjavík as part of Trident Juncture 18 – a NATO-led exercise.

Bars such as Sæta Svínið and The American Bar were overwhelmed by demand and had to request emergency supplies from Olgerdin’s Egill Skallagrímsson brewery, known for its Gull lager.

Blogger Eiríkur Jónsson wrote that the city’s bar owners “were fighting an overwhelming force”.

The American troops began arriving on Wednesday (24 October) evening and left on Sunday (28 October).