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Finally a 'beer' with zero alcohol that tastes >98% as good as the real thing?
I think it is.
For something like dry January, I can't think of much better. It's so close to the real thing that it could be the first one to spawn genuine fans who prefer it.
Thoughts?
Yeah, it's very good. I have a couple of cans in the fridge at the moment.
Agreed - it's ace.
As posted on previous thread it has messed with with my head on a night out. After 4 pints of it I was questioning my sobriety to drive with a 'phantom' bevied up feeling. I can only put it down to it feeling and tasting so close to the real thing and being in an environment I've normally have had a few.
Marco against the pint. He'll never lose
[i]There are loads of fantastic NA beers.[/i] - Possibly but it is still the minority of na beer. Most are still pretty rank. I speak after 3 years without a real beer.
Guinness Zero is good and dependable.
It is best not to expect it to taste like Guinness but rather consider if it is a pleasant drink. Most alcohol free beers are like that. I don't like sweet drinks, which rules out about 90% of all soft drinks. The NA beers are something that isn't sweet (some are but I can avoid those) so I don't mind drinking them but don't ever expect to get something that tastes like real beer. Accept it for what it is.
Most of the NA beers I have tried have that over-malty taste to some degree. Like they're covering up for something. Even chilled mass lagers (which don't taste of much in alcoholic form) haven't cracked it IMO.
There may well be other good NA beers, but they are niche - nothing mainstream has come anywhere near as close as Guinness Zero to tasting like the real thing.
I agree, it's great. I have been lucky enough to enjoy it on draught, in a pub in Dublin, with the chief brewer of the team behind it. Cheers bud.
After the other thread I bought a mixed case from Jump Ship brewery. I've tried to be subjective as they're local to me but I reckon they're the best AF beers I've tried so far. I bought a second case the other day. And they do a stout.
After 4 pints of it I was questioning my sobriety to drive with a ‘phantom’ bevied up feeling. I can only put it down to it feeling and tasting so close to the real thing and being in an environment I’ve normally have had a few.
I stopped drinking alcohol a long time back and now Guinness 0.0 is my standard drink at the local Trade Union club. On first arriving I stand watching the barman slowly and carefully pour a can of Guinness 0.0 into a glass, I then carry it over to wherever I am going to sit, place the glass on the table, sit down, and take my first mouthful.
I find that first mouthful utterly satisfying but I have absolutely no idea why, how can I be gagging for some non-alcohol? It makes no sense at all, it hasn't even got caffeine in it ffs. It's bizarre and it seems to "hit the spot" more as time goes by.
A friend very recently pointed out to me that a can of Guinness 0.0, which is more or less a pint, only has 90 calories, I had no idea, I had always assumed that it was packed with calories. I actually find one can quite filling too, more than it feels it should be.
All in all I reckon that Guinness 0.0 is the perfect drink. Unless you want something which disrupts the neurotransmitters in your brain, makes you throw up, fall over, and continues to punish you mercilessly the following day 🙂
Agreed. It's astonishing. I'm a self confessed beer snob and it is in a league of its own.
Agree, it has been superb for me to curb my drinking which was starting to concern me. Attitudes seem to be changing quickly and the NA section keeps growing in the supermarkets.
The low alcohol beer thing is a just such a huge game changer
I say my son play a gig in Sheffield and i was sleeping in a tent in the Peak. Soft drinks would have been tough. Even not that nice low alcohol beer at it was a breeze
I think it’s a great substitute.
Got given a nitro surge for Xmas so might see if can use pin trick on these cans and see if it makes it even closer to a real pint.
Yes it's almost indistinguishable from the real thing. A pub I go into has this contraption which looks like a normal beer font that opens the can and then turns the can over slowly to pour the Guinness with a perfect head. It also comes in pints which most cans don't which is also a bonus. I understand that they have a couple of pubs in London serving it on draught - can't wait to try that.
Only AF beer I like. All the others are either too happy or bland. It tastes nearly like Guinness.
When I was drinking I'd never have considered Guinness but now I am sober I love a Guinness Zero. On a hot summer's day (remember those?) a cold GZ really hit the spot. I was in Devon last week and found Proper Job 0.5% which is the best ale type beer I have tasted. I haven't found it anywhere locally yet though.
So it's all your faults that I couldn't find any in the shops last week!
Felt like others had finally discovered my personal little secret. Reminds me to stock up...
It's good for Guinness too. Same price, (or more?) as an alcoholic pint but with no duty which would be about 50p for a 4.3% Guinness. Someone is profiteering.
I've not tried GZ, my usual af tipple is an Erdinger weisbier.
If someone did a decent AF wine, that'd be good.
Anyone recommend a pale ale af that’s any good. For me they’ve always had a weird finish on the palette
Was going to say the same thing @tthew - that's the only one I've found I've bought again.
I rarely drink "real" Guinness but the 0.0 one is my goto zero perecenter. I thought it was cheaper than the alcoholic stuff as well- bought a few packs of 10 before Christmas and was surprised they weren't more expensive (I'm looking at you Impossibrew)
Might try that because the Ghost Ship and (particularly) the Doom Bar Zero I tried the last couple of days were 'orrible.
First time trying it in the pub last night and I was pleasantly surprised. I'll occasionally have a real Guinness but the Zero is above everything else I've tried, Adnams Ghostship is really good too though.
I do like the Erdinger but I don't really think of that as a substitute as it's so different from my usual IPA's.
The absolute worst is Tennents, it's bad enough with the alcohol in it the AF stuff is truly terrible, I'd much rather a glass of water.
Mind, I wouldn't touch full fat Doom Bar either.
Another Ghost Ship fan here
Anyone recommend a pale ale af that’s any good. For me they’ve always had a weird finish on the palette
Jump Ship do a pale ale and an IPA.
Yes, still taste like a poor over marketed stout.
The big drop brewery alcohol free pales aren't bad.
I do some homebrewing, I think the stouts and porters are always easier to do than the pale delicate beers because you've got more to hide behind.
The darker alcohol free beers, I think, work well because you miss the 'mouth feel' of the alcohol less, because the darker malts give a bit of almost thickness to the drink that is harder to replicate with the pales.
The darker alcohol free beers, I think, work well because you miss the ‘mouth feel’ of the alcohol less, because the darker malts give a bit of almost thickness to the drink that is harder to replicate with the pales.
Nice analysis . Maybe that's why the Erdinger Weissbier tastes pretty good too - there's just a bit more to it.
Guiness Zero doesn't taste anything like a decent proper guiness
However as most pubs in England don't serve proper guiness but a watered down over chilled and over gassed version it stands up well.
It also tastes better than those awful pressurised cans of 'real guiness'
Stout was always traditionally a low alchohol drink anyway compared to lager and bitter and so it works well AF or like the Small Beer stout at around 2%
Maybe that’s why the Erdinger Weissbier tastes pretty good too – there’s just a bit more to it.
Yes - definitely, the local real ale off license near us has some other alcohol free/0.5% german weiss beers in that style that are pretty good too.
After the other thread I bought a mixed case from Jump Ship brewery. I’ve tried to be subjective as they’re local to me but I reckon they’re the best AF beers I’ve tried so far. I bought a second case the other day. And they do a stout.
Agree.
I do find the claim GZ tastes like Guinness bizarre though, it blatantly doesn't. I like them both but they are not the same!
Guinness tastes great to me. Alcohol messes with some of my medication - so I cannot drink it anymore.
Guinness 0 still feels a bit "thin" in the mouth for a stout once you get past that mousse iykwim.
As far as lagers go, FreeDamm isn't far off the mark having managed to dial back that lingering malty aftertaste, which most brewers just get plain wrong.
Alcohol messes with some of my medication – so I cannot drink it anymore.
Yep; came here to ask is it truly 0% alcohol, or just close to zero like many others?
According to the Ronseal index
0.0% Alcohol Free
Says "not more than 0.05% vol."
According to the Ronseal index
Ah yes, because marketing is never disingenuous, is it?
“not more than 0.05% vol.”
So not alcohol free, which is as suspected, but legally advertised as such*. Glad it's a viable choice for most folk though; sounds like a decent tipple!
*and yes, I'm aware that yogurt/ginger beer, ripe bananas, etc, quite possibly contain some alcohol...
Agree that AF stouts tend to be the best of the options.
After those, i find hazy pale ale types to be decent - Lucky Saint do one, Brewdog Hazy AF (if you can bear to give your money to those pillocks) and a few others.
Then ales like Ghost Ship which are ok if there's nothing else - though Butcombe's AF Goram IPA is good.
But I won't bother with an AF lager. Just not worth anybody's time.
I find getting an assorted crate from https://drydrinker.com/ is a good way of trying out a selection
So not alcohol free, which is as suspected, but legally advertised as such*.
I think Guinness 0.0 is completely free of alcohol.
Edit: As I understand it drinks that are 0.05% are legally entitled to claim to be alcohol free, otherwise it would cause problems for ginger beer, canned shandy etc, but they cannot legally claim to be 0.0%
Edit 2 Scrub that, I've just looked at a can and it does say 0.05% !
And it also says 75 calories per can, I thought it was 90.
Which is remarkably low!
The only AF beer I've had 2 of. Really quite nice.Yep, Guinness Zero is top of the AF table followed by Ghost Ship. M&S do a very good AF Czech lager in 500ml bottles too.
My standard bike recovery drink. And I’m not a Guiness fan! Prefer the lighter texture of GZ. Have tested both at Twickenham when they launched it. Pretty obvious difference, but I prefer the zero. I don’t drink alcohol for the effects, just the taste. Three units would be a serious session for me!
Just had a couple of chilled cans of it post icy dog walk. It is definitely one on my favourite AF beers, though 2 in one sitting is enough for me.
But I won’t bother with an AF lager. Just not worth anybody’s time
Honestly, I think Heineken Blue is my second favourite AF, relatively crisp and not too sweet.
I gave up drinking by accident six years ago.
My view on NA beer is to never have any alcohol containing drinks again. Don't do the NA in the week and alcohol at the w/e thing.
The brain and taste buds recalibrate, you forget the pissed feeling and eventually don't feel your missing out.
Just need a pub near me that does Luck Saint on draft.
oh and I agree Guiness 0.0 is great.
It's great with Tia Maria or a malt whisky in it
* Smiley *
Just need a pub near me that does Luck Saint on draft.
Your taste buds are shot, that stuff is awful!
Honestly, I think Heineken Blue is my second favourite AF, relatively crisp and not too sweet.
I think HB is a great example of different folk having different tastes.
To me it is horribly metallic. Others seem to love it.
aye it's all subjective hey, otherwise there would be just one stout, one larger, one IPA and one cider.
Tend to agree Stirling. I still like the odd bottle of Guinness Original. A very different brew.
Just goes to show how beer tastes are radically different.
Takes a lot for me to pour any drink away, but Ghost Ship AF was pretty disgusting to me. So many people recommend it and I like the normal version but it was proper rank. I always try to drink a few mouthfuls but that stuff went down the sink with less than a third of the bottle gone.
but I think that’s a 0.5-1%er from memory.
Fun fact, un-pasteurised fresh orange juice can be 0.5%, a very ripe banana can be 0.4%
As said, it's a good recovery drink (or should I say, feels like one!)
I keep both GZ and full fat in the campervan fridge, and I'm not bothered which one comes out after a long hot ride or run. But if you drink one of each back to back, you really can taste the difference. GZ seems thinner, sweeter. It's much better as a standalone.
Yeah, the 0.5% thing is to account for naturally occurring alcohol levels. Like the driving limit in Scotland is ostensibly zero, but technically a similar 0.5% figure because you might have just eaten a fermenting banana.
As posted on previous thread it has messed with with my head on a night out. After 4 pints of it I was questioning my sobriety to drive with a ‘phantom’ bevied up feeling. I can only put it down to it feeling and tasting so close to the real thing and being in an environment I’ve normally have had a few.
I've heard this from a pal. Questioned his sobriety after 2 or 3 pints to be driving (but he did).
> And it also says 75 calories per can, I thought it was 90.
There is a large variation in sugar content - e.g. the Erdinger is 3.6% sugar, whereas GhostShip, Lucky Saint are 0.1% and Guinness is 0.7%.
Two bottles of Erdinger would put you over the daily sugar intake recommendation.
Are there any easily available (i.e supermarket) AF lagers that are better than the Peroni Zero?
The Peroni is 'okay' in as much as it tastes a bit like normal Peroni (i.e. nothing special). I found Heineken Blue revolting (chemically taste).
Like the driving limit in Scotland is ostensibly zero, but technically a similar 0.5% figure because you might have just eaten a fermenting banana.
Does the ol' "I've just eaten some fresh fruit guv" work in Scotland?