Guinness 0.0 – four years in the making

Guinness this week launched a new, alcohol-free version of its iconic Guinness stout. Guinness 0.0 claims to have everything the original product can boast, except the alcohol.

The new product is brewed using exactly the same process at St. James’s Gate in Dublin before the alcohol is gently removed using a cold filtration method. This allows the removal without causing any thermal stress to the beer. The brewers then carefully blend and balance the flavours to ensure that the product retains the essential taste characteristics of its famous cousin.

Guinness says that in taste tests carried out with an independent panel, Guinness 0.0 ‘exceeded expectations’ and that the taste was lauded as ‘outstanding’.

Speaking at the launch of Guinness 0.0 this week, global brand director, Grainne Wafer, called it ‘an exceptional day for Guinness’:

‘The launch of Guiness 0.0 highlights our long-held commitment to innovation, experimentation and bravery in brewing, harnessing the power of our brewers and our ingredients to create an alcohol-free beer that is 100 per cent Guinness but zero per cent alcohol,’ she added.

Revealing that Guinness 0.0 had taken four years to develop, brewer Aisling Ryan said that she and the team were proud of the care and effort that they had put in:

‘We have created a taste experience that we believe is truly unrivalled in the world of non-alcoholic beer and we can’t wait for people to finally be able to try it,’ she said.

Guinness 0.0 will be rolled out in the UK and the RoI in 500ml cans for off-licences and supermarkets from November. It will be available in pubs in those regions from spring next year and around the world later in 2021.