He did refer, somewhat cryptically, to "issues" at Molson breweries: "Due to the interconnectedness of the supply chain, there have been knock-on effects resulting from brewery level issues at Molson Coors."

McKillop declined to elaborate on the nature or location of these issues or say how they might affect the supply of Rainier kegs.

But one major "brewery level issue" for Molson is the nearly two-month Teamsters strike at Molson's brewery in Fort Worth, Texas. Among other products, that plant makes Rainier 18-pack bottles, according to Teamsters spokesperson Kara Deniz.

Several bar owners in and around Seattle say they were told by their suppliers that the strike is at least partly to blame for the outage.

In a statement Friday, Molson Coors did not refute that explanation.

"While we can't speak for Pabst's business, our contingency plans in Fort Worth are working well," Molson spokesperson Adam Collins said.

"We're still brewing, packaging and shipping and we've exceeded all of our weekly production expectations since the strike began," Collins added. "Our other five U.S. breweries are absorbing extra production across the country, and we deliberately built up inventories earlier this year."

Collins also said "the vast majority" of Pabst production had moved out of Molson refineries by last fall.

However, Beer Marketer's Steinmann said the Texas strike has been affecting Pabst and another Molson contract customer, Pennsylvania-based Yuengling, in part because "Molson Coors is scrambling to fulfill its own volume needs."

Steinmann said the fact that Molson was still producing some Pabst could be making Pabst more vulnerable to a strike's effects. "The supply chains are interconnected and there are ripple effects," he added.

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