- Original Guinness taste is closely matched
- Similar mouthfeel and body
- ~£4-5 per four cans
- Not available on draught
- Limited availability in supermarkets
- Limited availability in pubs/bars in the UK
In my experience drinking alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, I’ve never know a drink to cause as much interest as the new Guinness 0.0.
But whether you can call it ‘new’ depends on your outlook. In fact, Guinness 0.0 launched to consumers in mid-2020, only for it to be recalled nationwide over fears of mould contamination.
However, Guinness went back to review their production methods and have re-launched the famous stout almost a year later in August 2021.
The life of Guinness 0.0 starts as normal. The alcohol is produced by fermentation of the hops. However, a cold filtration process at the end of the brewing helps to remove the alcohol present in the beer.
In this review, we are going to try out the non-alcoholic version of the black-stuff and see how it compares to the drink main people will have tried at least once in their life.
Guinness 0.0 Initial Review
Most Guinness fans know that it tastes better from draught, with many avoiding the canned or bottled versions through fear of receiving an ‘inferior’ drink.
However, for this review, I will be taste testing from a can. That is until I can find it via the specially-designed dispensing unit (scroll down for the video). I managed to find a 4-can multipack from my local Morrison’s stores, priced at the promotional price of £3.50.
This looks to be a promo price for the initial launch, with the price set to rise to £4.50 at a later date. This matches the same sort of price you would expect to pay for the alcoholic version. After all, pricing between alcoholic and the same non-alcoholic drink tend to be similar.
Getting into the review, I chilled a can upright in the fridge for between an hour or two.
Opening the can, there was the same hiss and fizz you expect with the alcoholic version. Instead, the fizz went a bit overboard and spilt everywhere. A very un-Guinness like action.
It did however look the same, and smelt very similar – if not a bit sweet. I did my best to pour the fan carefully into a glass, but immediately there are some differences.
As the famous stout settles, it settles quicker than expected. And when it is fully settled, it appears slightly lighter than its alcoholic counterpart.
If anything, the appearance of the liquid appears ‘thinner’ almost as though it has slightly lower viscosity.
Reaching for my drink, the sweet smell is noticeable. But it strongly retains the famous Guinness aroma. The initial thoughts on taste are impressive. It tastes very much like a Guinness, and the lack of alcohol is not noticeable.
The only differences are as I’ve already touched upon; it tastes slightly sweeter and it feels thin. But as you consume more of the drink, these differences are less noticeable. As you get to the end of the glass, you have to double-take on whether it really is alcohol free.
One final difference is that there is no noticeable froth that lines the glass once fully consumed.
Although I’ve pointed out quite a few differences here, they are all very minor. To anybody that isn’t paying attention or fully-consumed in every aspect of their drink, I doubt they would be able to tell the difference!
Can You Buy Guinness 0.0 in Pubs?
Right now, finding a pub that sells Guinness 0.0 is going to be tricky – unless you live in Ireland.
Because the non-alcoholic beer cannot be dispensed using regular beer lines, Guinness have developed a special Microdraught dispensing unit that replicates the traditional Guinness 2-part pour, from a can.
The below video from Guinness is the best way to demonstrate how this works in action:
I expect to start seeing the above units in larger establishments whilst the uptake and awareness of Guinness 0.0 grows.
Where Can I Buy Guinness 0.0%?
Because Guinness has just come back onto the market, finding Guinness 0.0 for this review was slightly more tricky.
We tried a few of the major supermarkets, but the only shop we could find with stock was Morrisons. However, we fully expect all big supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda – to all stock Guinness 0% shortly. In fact, most already have e-commerce listings on their website, but are yet to be update with ‘back in stock’.
However, we expect the limited options above to quickly be updated, so just because they are not listed above, doesn’t mean they aren’t available elsewhere!
Guinness 0.0 Ingredients, Nutritional Information and Calories
The ingredients of Guinness are as follows:
Water, Malt, Barley, Roast Barley, Fructose, Natural Flavourings, Nitrogen and Hops
Notice the additional of fructose, which will be the reason for the sweet taste and aroma. Additional ‘flavourings’ are not specified but likely added to try and replicate the taste profile remove from the cold alcohol filtration process.
Although labelled as 0.0% alcohol, there is no more than 0.05% ABV – enough to classify as non-alcoholic.
Even though there is the presence of fructose in the product, a 440ml can contains just 75 calories, with the extended nutritional information listed below.
| Nutritional Information | Per 100mL |
|---|---|
| Energy (KJ / KCal) | 71 / 17 |
| Fat (g) | 0 |
| Of Which Saturates (g) | 0 |
| Carbohydrate (g) | 3.8 |
| Of Which Sugars (g) | 0.7 |
| Protein (g) | 0.3 |
| Salt (g) | 0 |
The Overall Verdict
The wait, and additional delays – to the release of Guinness 0.0 are very much worth it. This non-alcoholic stout is very good indeed, and the company have clearly put a lot of time and effort into perfecting the famous drink.
If you were to drink a glass of non-alcoholic Guinness within a group of people drinking the real thing, I’m sure that nobody would be able to tell the difference on appearance. Or even taste for that matter.
Like many other reviews I’ve seen online and social media, I agree that trying the drink from draught may be the game changer that addresses some of my minor differences.
If other major beer manufacturers produce non-alcoholic versions of their drinks as good as Guinness, then the NoLo drink industry will continue to grow in popularity!
Make sure you go ahead and try this as soon as possible!
