Guinness 0.0 Review - My Goodness, My Guinness

As a younger man I drank Guinness remarkably easily, pint after glorious pint. I was even a fan of what we called “fortified Guinness” or “Super Guinness” which added a shot of whiskey to the pint itself (other more reductive names for this drink are also used). These days Guinness is still as enjoyable but goes down much slower. 

An alcohol free Guinness was rumoured to be in the works several years ago and the brewery freely admit it was a four year process. No doubt with countless revisions in both brewing and tasting compared to its well established alcoholic brethren. But as their popular tv adverts in the 90’s told us… "Good things come to those who wait".

The Guinness brewery was founded in Dublin, Ireland in 1759 by Arthur Guinness. He reportedly signed a 9,000-year lease on St. James's Gate, where the modern brewery still stands and can be visited. Originally brewing ale before switching to the then more  fashionable porter, Arthur was successful in both local and export markets. In 1801, Guinness began to brew a dark beer that would eventually become known as Guinness Stout. This beer was heavily hopped and had a very distinctive, bitter taste.

Over the next century, the brewery continued to expand and improve, rebuilding in 1868 with a staggering 1 million barrel yearly capacity. By the outbreak of the first world war in 1914, it’s believed to have been the largest brewery in the world, employing thousands of workers. The war years saw an expected slump and obvious turmoil, but by the 1960’s Guinness was expanding with new breweries in Africa and South America. With ever so slight differences noticeable in the local brewing, international Guinness tasting is a must if you ever have the opportunity. 

In the 1980s the Guinness brewery was acquired by the Diageo group and the Guinness family itself was no longer at the forefront of the company. Still keen to mine its heritage, in recent years the brewery has started producing ales and porters, marketed as based on those recipes from the early days. 

Which brings us back to their latest offering, Guinness 0.0. Told you good things come to those who wait…  The marketing claims it is “the Guinness with everything except the alcohol” and when it first launched I have to admit scepticism. Reportedly the alcohol is removed with a cold filtration system, effectively leaving the drink intact but alcohol free. Not being available individually I committed to a slightly daunting four pack for this review, because of this abundance I shared a can with another big Guinness drinking friend, one with a finer palette than he would admit, all in the name of science obviously, to see if our opinions differed.

Opening a can of Guinness 0.0 is a reassuring experience, the stout foams like you would expect and the can even features the much maligned widget to keep it lively. The pouring experience is again, much as you would expect, if perhaps seeming a tad thinner. Leaving it to settle, Guinness 0.0 bubbles in the traditional fashion. But what of the all important taste? 

With a rich, minerally, roasted taste, Guinness 0.0 could almost fool the most avid drinker. It certainly does manage to maintain the smooth almost chocolatey feel, with a welcome slight bitterness and what can only be described as that ‘smell of good coffee’ taste. The mouth feel is slightly thinner as expected from the pour, but again leaves a deep earthy, almost healthy feeling aftertaste. For me at least this added a nostalgic quality, harkening back to my younger days when Guinness would drink so easily. 

Sadly no information seems to be currently available on the mineral content of Guinness 0.0, but as it is not being marked with the old “Gunness for health!” or “Gunness for strength!” slogans we can probably safely say it should not be considered a health drink. But it is a very fine drink and one of the few good non alcoholic stouts this reviewer has encountered. Sadly though, and possibly simply psychologically, something seems missing. Aptly summed up in my friends' take “It’s good… but it’s not Guinness”.

So if it looks like Guinness, pours like Guinness, hugs a glass like Guinness and tastes like Guinness, what are we to conclude? I am still uncertain, but with one can left, I do wonder what it would taste like with a shot of whiskey in it. 

Guinness 0.0 is very widely available in cans now and throughout January many offers are available in major outlets. The brewery are also currently advertising availability arrival in pubs very soon. 

Written by Mark Charles Adams.

You can follow Mark on Untappd and most other social media @threeseventytwo 

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