Diageo is introducing Guinness 0.0, a new alcohol-free variety of its flagship Guinness beer in Great Britain by the end of this month, after a four-year long creation and development process.
The brand claims that this Guinness variant “boasts the same gracefully crafted smooth taste, flawlessly balanced taste and distinct dark colour of Guinness, without the alcohol”. The new drink is a low-calorie option too having about 70 calories only per 440ml can.
To develop Guinness 0.0, the St James’s Gate brewers utilize the same natural ingredients (water, barley, hops and yeast) before eliminating the alcohol via a cold filtration method. The brand states that the process avoids “thermal stress” to the stout, thus conserving and maintaining the unique character and flavour of Guinness.
Gráinne Wafer, global brand director at Guinness declared- “The launch of Guinness 0.0 represents our long-held determination for innovation, experimentation, and bravery in brewing, exploiting the power of our brewers and our ingredients, to design an alcohol-free beer that is 100% Guinness but 0% alcohol.
He added- “We understand that people desire to be able to cherish a Guinness when they select not to drink alcohol without compromising on taste, and with Guinness 0.0 we feel they will be able to do exactly that.”
Guinness 0.0 will be available for purchase in a four-pack format to buy in off-licences and supermarkets in Great Britain. From the spring of 2021, the drink will be available in pubs across the Ireland and Great Britain. And, the further roll out throughout worldwide markets has been decided for late 2021.
Dublin-based Guinness’s Open Gate Brewery in Dublin, the main innovation centre of the brand created a ‘full-flavoured’ non-alcoholic lager (light beer) named Pure Brew in 2018.