Woof. Bright berry and cascara notes with no booziness to offset their weird metallic shrillness. Not a good intro to alcohol-free stouts.

With this low alcohol beer hype currently raging through Belgium and other countries, I am still looking for an alcohol free beer that meets the quality level of its alcoholic predecessors, and apart from a few notable exceptions, I have not found many that can stand the test of comparison. I therefore turn to old Guinness now, hoping that a non-alcoholic version of the famous Guinness Draught, the embodiment of Irish dry stout, may take away some of the doubts I still have concerning beers that have been bereft of one of their vital parts... From a can with a nitrogen widget within, bought online. Opens with a mean hiss and some foam coming out. After pouring, the classic nitrogen head so deeply associated with Guinness Draught settles, in the form of a thick, utterly creamy, pale beige, regular, very dense, thickly plaster-lacing head, gracing a clear, very dark chocolate brown robe - as good as black, but with a mahogany brown colour visible near the bottom of the glass. Aroma of coffee grounds, ferrous spring water or even actual iron shavings, dry caramel without the sweetness, old and dry industrial chocolate cookies, cold tea, 'Koetjesreep', white bread dough, wet papier maché, factory-made wholegrain bread, whipped cream, plaster. Quite neutral onset, some vague sweetishness of dried pear perhaps, as well as an underlying, subtle sourish tone; very soft carbonation, even softer than I am used to from nitro tap beers, with admittedly creamy, yet essentially fairly thin mouthfeel - all of the creaminess is established by the nitrogen bubbles. Very smooth, bit glueish but also somewhat oily, hard-caramelly and grey-bready maltiness with that typical Guinness iron effect at its sides, moving from lightly sweetish (but sadly not as chocolatey as promised in the nose) to softly but consistently bitter and roasty, coffeeish indeed but in a gentle, 'industrial' kind of way. Still the finish harbours quite a bit of roasted malt bitterness, supported by underlying hops, which does lend the final stage more body than is usually the case in any non-alcoholic beer. The flavours linger a bit and all in all, I have to admit that they are not far removed from the regular Guinness Draught, at least the English and continental versions of it; in fact, if I would be presented with a pint of this at some Irish pub and be unaware of its identity, I might easily mistake it for a 'full' Guinness Draught (depending on how many beers have preceded, perhaps). This was my first alcohol-free stout and I must conclude that it more or less meets my expectations: it does indeed have nearly all the flavours of the famous original, though I hasten to add that this original has lost much of its flavours too over the course of the years, with an equally industrial feel to it. But that aside, this non-alcoholic imitation comes eerily close to the 'real thing' - much more so even than I was expecting. Like it or not, this Guinness 0.0 to me is, within its specific non-alcohol segment, more accomplished than the bulk of the non-alcohol Belgian blondes and 'brunes' I had to endure since the alcohol-free beer hype began. Nowhere near a masterpiece of great brewing art, but neither is the regular Guinness Draught and I remain pleasantly surprised here.

Here to see Kiri Pritchard-McLean. Sticking to my dry weekend plans, and this is actually quite decent. Bit of roast, slightly sweet, just understandably bit thin.

440ml can. Pours black with then usual Guinness nitro head. Aroma is roasted malt, some kind of berries like juniper. Taste is light sweet, roasted malt, coffee. Light bodied. Long bitter finish. Pretty perfect as a no-alcohol imitation of Guinness.

Pours very dark brown with a lasting tan head that laces well. It smells of dark roast malt with a little coffee and chocolate. The flavor is similar. It’s sweeter than Guinness draught and I think has a milder, less roasted flavor and thinner body. While okay, I definitely prefer it with alcohol and it’s not close.

Lata de @Supermercado Carrefour. 27/07/2024. Color negro opaco corona de espuma beige aromas y sabores tostados, regaliz, cafe, cuerpo medio.

440ml can. Pours an opaque black with a medium, creamy, cascading, beige head that leaves curtains of lace. Sweet aroma of roasted malt, dark chocolate, caramel, earth and coffee. Sweet flavour of roasted malt, brown sugar, earth and day old coffee in a dry, bitter finish. Light body with a thin, watery texture and soft carbonation. An excellent NA beer.

44cl can from Coop, Tallinn. Pours the usual black with a nice nitro head. Roasty aroma with notes of dark fruits, chocolate and hops. Creamy and surprisingly flavourful, but naturally a bit thinner mouthfeel. Certainly a decent nonalcoholic beer