The average cost of a pint is tipped to rise 30p next month as shortages, coupled with the end of a VAT cut take their toll on spending.
The drinks wholesalers Matthew Clark and Bibendum are putting prices up by between 3.5% and 5% next month. In some London venues, the cost of a pint could top £6.
A spokesman for the companies, which are owned by the C&C Group, said: "As our industry recovers from the pandemic, the pressure on UK and global supply chains has added increased cost and complexity."
It comes ahead of the Budget when the Chancellor is set to announce imminent changes to alcohol duty.
A lack of hospitality staff returning after furlough has led to pubs having to increase wages to fill the estimated 134,000 vacancies across the sector.
More than eight in ten pubs say they have had to raise pay, despite struggling to access stock due to the HGV driver shortage.
Ed Bedington, editor of the trade journal Morning Advertiser, which carried out the price survey, said: "Price rises are rapidly becoming a major reality for operators that are already facing increases on a number of fronts, from the rise in the national living wage through to the increases in VAT and the threat of a return to the full horror that is business rates.
“We're facing a tsunami of increases on the horizon and it's going to be a real challenge for all."
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Dave Mountford, co-founder of the Forum of British Pubs, predicted that publicans would have to increase prices of a pint of beer by 20p to 30p to meet the rising costs.
"In my pub that means I will be charging more than £4 for a pint of cask ale for the first time," said the Derby publican. "It will mean much more in areas like London."
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "We are urging the chancellor to support our sector by cutting beer duty, VAT and business rates."
The Chancellor is expected to announced an overhaul of the outdated alcohol tax system in his Autumn Budget on October 27.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has described the current system as “a mess” because there are 15 different bands of taxation — three for beer, five for cider, six for wine and one for spirits.
Right now, beer of more than 7.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) is taxed at nearly 25p per litre. However, the same strength still cider is taxed at 61p and sparkling cider gets hit with a levy of £2.88 if it is more than 5.5% and less than 8.5%.
Meanwhile, wine of up to 15% ABV incurs £2.98 of tax per litre, while a litre bottle of sparkling wine of up to 15% is hit with duty of £3.81.
Under Sunak’s plans, the premium on sparkling wine will be scrapped and the duty levelled at the same rate as still wine, knocking 83p off a bottle of bubbles.
It is also understood that duties will be restructured to give English sparkling wine a tax advantage over foreign sparkling wines such as champagne and prosecco.
