Guinness / Guinness 0.0

Style: Irish stout
Producer: Guinness
Origin:Ireland
Size: 44cl / 44cl
Alcohol: 4.2% / 0.0%
Price: 29kr / 23kr
Systembolaget: 126015 / 192014

Guinness was founded in 1759 by Arthur Guinness, who famously signed a 9,000-year lease on the St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin. The brewery originally produced ales, but Guinness stout became its defining beer in the 19th century. It is made using pale malt, flaked barley, hops, yeast, and roasted unmalted barley, the last of which gives the stout its dark colour and dry, coffee-like bitterness. The plastic widget found in Guinness cans was introduced in 1989 and releases nitrogen when the can is opened, recreating a pub-poured beer as it creates the smooth mouthfeel and dense, creamy head. Guinness 0.0% was first released in 2020 and has gone on to massive success not just across Ireland, but the world. Because of this success I wanted to do a blind tasting to see if people could tell the difference between the regular and non alcoholic variant.

Both beers were very similar in colour, aroma and taste, with the light coffee and cocoa notes rising against the light yet silky body. When tasted blind, nearly everyone could find the alcohol free variant, which was to be expected as it is slightly thinner. The Guinness 0.0% is still one of the best alcohol free beers I’ve ever had though, so if you’re looking to take it easy for an evening, I highly recommend you try it out.