Dublin's famous Guinness brewery has been the victim of an audacious theft.

A man drove a truck into the brewery on Victoria Quay, Dublin 8, yesterday evening; hitched up a trailer containing 450 kegs of different beers; and drove off into Dublin's traffic just as rush-hour got under way.

The haul contained 180 kegs of Guinness, 180 kegs of Budweiser and 90 kegs of Carlsberg and has a total value of €64,000. In the pubs, the loot would represent approximately 40,500 pints and a whopping bar tab of approximately €160,000.

The raid comes at one of the busiest times of the year for the brewery, which supplies 13,000 pubs across Ireland that are preparing for the brisk Christmas trading period.

Officers in Kevin Street Garda Station are investigating but a Garda spokesman said there was no sign of the missing truck, trailer or its driver.

Drinks company Diageo, which owns Guinness, said the raid was "very serious" and unprecedented. "We have never had a breach of this scale", said spokeswoman Grainne Mackin. "A full investigation is taking place into what happened and how.

"There is CCTV, and all of this is being reviewed and supplied to the gardaí". She added that on-street CCTV from the surrounding areas was also being examined.

She said the trailer was taken from an area that would normally be busy with trucks entering and exiting the St James's Gate site.