Non liquid assets?

This from Slate.com's todays papers:

If all the numbers don't bring it home, the Journal makes sure the real-world impact is clear. "Cains Beer Co., Liverpool, England, has seen revenues at the 100 pubs it owns suffer as consumers cut spending. The cost of making beer at the 150-year-old brewer increased as the price of hops shot up. It also faced a 40% increase in the cost of aluminum for beer cans over the past year or so," it notes. Because of the credit crunch, no banks would extend loans to the brewer, and it's now liquidating its nonliquid assets to pay off debts.

Excellent use of the pint-sized pun, lads. I was under the assumption that in difficult and inflationary times that beer sales increased. I was also under the assumption that this was the case especially in the UK. Shows ya what I know. I recently paid $8 for a Guinness at an airport "pub", which was right at pain threshold. THAT is real-world impact.