Diageo’s non-alcoholic stout Guinness 0.0 is to be available in Irish pubs from mid-July, the drinks giant said on Thursday.
It said the stout will be in supermarkets and off-licences in Ireland from the end of August.
Guinness 0.0 is being launched after a four-year development process led by the engineering and innovations teams at St James’s Gate in Dublin. Its makers claim it looks and tastes the same as a regular pint, with alcohol the only thing that is missing.
The no-alcohol version is brewed using the same ingredients but with a cold filtration process used to filter out the alcohol.
Diageo intended to release Guinness 0.0 locally in late 2020 but this was put on hold following its launch in Britain. However this was delayed after the product was recalled due to concerns of microbiological contamination in some cans.
The drinks maker said it has been working on a new filtration process and additional quality assurance measures through the production process.
“Guinness has always maintained the upmost commitment to quality. We are 100 per cent confident that consumers’ expectations of our quality standards will be met with our new non-alcoholic Guinness 0.0,” said Alan McAleenan, marketing director.
The claim that “Guinness is good for you” may have been widely discredited, but its makers are no doubt hoping that they can at least claim it isn’t too bad for you. Diageo points out that the no-alcohol version contains just 16 calories per 100ml, meaning a standard can contains 70 calories in total.
