A brewery boss has warned that average prices of a pint could soon exceed £7.

Alan Mahon, founder of Brewgooder, said rocketing costs, a weaker pound, rising taxes and soaring inflation had pushed the industry into panic mode.

Mr Mahon said the cost of carbon dioxide had risen by 3,000 per cent in the last year, while spiralling energy costs were also at record highs for brewers.

As a result, Mr Mahon warned punters could be forced to fork out £7 for pints in the future.

Bromsgrove Advertiser: Photo by PA

He said: “From what we are seeing, the pressures on the industry with cost price inflation challenges and the Chancellor’s scrapping of the alcohol duty freeze might make a £7 pint the norm rather than the exception in many places, particularly in bigger cities.

“On the brewery side, raw material prices for the likes of wheat and barley are rising faster than the average rate of inflation, and consumers can perhaps understand that.

“What is less visible but equally as important is the things that don’t often come to drinkers mind when they think of what goes into beer, such as the eye-watering explosion in carbon dioxide prices which is 3,000% higher than 12 months ago, on top of soaring energy prices, a pain everyone is feeling right now.”

Beer shortage warning this winter

It comes as pubs and brewers have warned beer shortages could hit the UK this winter.

Industry experts are calling for the sector to be put on a priority list for gas supplies over the coming months.

The National Grid has previously warned UK homes could be left without power for three hours at a time as blackouts hit this winter.

The alert sparked “calls for certainty of energy supply” from drinks industry chiefs.

Jayne Almond, Food and Drink Federation’s director of policy, told The Sun: “We urge Ministers to continue to engage with us to address these issues and any potential disruption to the energy supply.”

Pubs are reportedly planning ways to stay open in the case of blackouts, including being lit by candles or battery lamps.

However, during a blackout, a Budweiser spokesman warned the “beer system may not be able to adequately cool the beer lines, meaning draught beer might not be served during the outage period.”

While the British Beer & Pub Association and Campaign for Real Ale told The Sun that blackouts could lead to a “tremendous loss of stock” and reduction in production.