Breweries are working around the clock to make sure pubs don't run out of beer this weekend as Brits are expected to consume millions of pints.
Industry bosses say they expect a bumper three days - the first time pubs have been able to serve customers over a Bank Holiday weekend in eight months.
But some producers have had to ration booze amid fears of shortages.
Heineken has limited each pub to three kegs on Amstel and Birra Moretti each week, while Budweiser has reportedly upped production by 630 million pints a year.
Today an estimated 1.5 million drinkers are expected to down six million pints across the UK.
Boozers in England were allowed to reopen on April 12 after being closed for more than three months - while businesses in some parts of the country were shut far longer.
Scotland followed suit on April 26, while hospitality venues were allowed to serve customers outdoors from April 30 in Northern Ireland.
But indoor drinking and dining is not permitted yet, so only venues with outdoor spaces, or the ability to serve takeaway drinks, can reopen.
Heineken said: “Our breweries are working round the clock to deal with a high level of demand. Birra Moretti and Amstel demand has totally surpassed our most optimistic forecasts.”
Steven Alton, chief executive of the British Institute of Innkeeping, told The Sun : “Bank Holidays are traditionally when friends and families come together.
“This May Bank Holiday will be the first opportunity in almost eight months for pubs across England to welcome customers over a long weekend. Everyone is looking forward to it.”
Under Boris Johnson's 'roadmap' out of lockdown, pubs and restaurants will be able to serve people indoors from May 17 if Covid rates continue to fall.
Latest Department for Health figures show that 15,514 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the past week - a 10 per cent fall compared to the previous seven days.
Yesterday Professor Tim Spector, epidemiologist at King's College London, said the UK has "one of the lowest rates in Europe at the moment" and the country was on track to reach herd immunity.
Referring to data from the Covid Symptom Study, which he runs, he told Sky News: "It looks like at the moment that we're past that pandemic period and we're moving into what we call the endemic period where we get low levels of infection, and occasional outbreaks, but they don't spread to the rest of the population, and the general risk is low."
He said that, in regions of low infection, people who have been vaccinated "should be much more relaxed and less stressed out".
He added: "I know a lot of people are still very worried about coming out of doors or pubs opening or restaurants...but for me this is a very reassuring picture and we should be a bit more upbeat about it, and focusing on the good news, not just the bad news or the possibility of something bad happening in the future."
