Guinness 0 Non-alcoholic Draught is another NA review I've had pending for a very long time but I didn't feel right reviewing the beer with just any ol' beer glass, I waited until I could find a branded Guinness glass to do the review - Well, I did have a nice Guinness glass but when I moved from my former apartment, I didn't bring it with me because I didn't drink Guinness anymore at that point. The notes I got from Guinness' website: Guinness 0 boasts a beautifully smooth taste, perfectly balanced flavor, and unique dark color, similar to Guinness Draught, brewed to be non-alcoholic.
To create Guinness 0 the St James’s Gate brewers, start by brewing Guinness exactly as they always have, using the same natural ingredients; water, barley, hops, and yeast; before gently removing the alcohol through a cold filtration method. The cold filtration process allows the alcohol to be filtered out without presenting thermal stress to the beer, protecting the integrity of its taste and character. The brewers then carefully blend and balance the flavours to ensure the distinctive flavour profile and taste characteristics of Guinness. The resulting product is a non-alcoholic stout that is unmistakably Guinness, inspired by the same dark, ruby red liquid and creamy head, hints of chocolate and coffee, smoothly balanced with bitter, sweet and roasted notes. Less than 0.5% ABV
Appearance: Well, it's been a good decade or so since I've bought a classic can of Guinness with the widget inside - this is exactly it. As soon as I open it up, you hear a loud pssssst! sound from the carbonation but it's not going to foam up like most beers as the little widget prevents that. The beer pours a deep, dark almost black as night body (with a bit of a cola brown hue), as the beer is poured there's a bit of a creaminess building up to the body, and finally it gives off a rich and deep yellowish/beige head on top that reminds me of a classic Guinness - the head doesn't go anywhere, it's vibrant, thick, and very creamy.
Aroma: This stout has a rich roasted maltiness to it that gives off a bit of a coffee aroma to it, dark chocolate, and a slight sweet and creaminess presence at the end - not quite a "double double" for those who are in Canada.. but sweet and creamy enough for the fellow coffee fans who like a nice rich stout as well.
Taste: This is incredibly creamy for the mouthfeel, it's incredibly smooth for a stout of any variety (full alcohol or non), it has a light to moderate roasted malt presence that gives off a bit of a coffee-like presence to it, a hint of peat, decent amount of sugary sweetness. It's fairly thin for the mouthfeel but it's definitely there - a slight roastiness with a slight sugary sweetness to it and a mild creaminess to it.
Overall Thoughts: I don't know why this took me 3+ years to review.. except for not wanting to feel embarrassed about using the "wrong glassware" because 50% of the Guinness experience is about the glass. This is definitely toned down compared to a classic Guinness but I'm someone who prefers the Jamaican/Export versions of the beer to begin with, so this NA version is very delightful, it's got a nice mild roasty presence to it, lots of creaminess thanks to the C02/Nitrogen, a mild sweetness to it that fellow Canadian coffee shop connoisseurs should appreciate. This is very smooth and honestly, I should have checked this out when it first came out.. but it's better late than never, right? Right?!
Check out my other Non-alcoholic beer reviews!
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