Guinness triples production of zero-alcohol stout amid shifting consumer tastes

Owners Diageo has invested 25m euro in a new facility at its St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin to meet the surging demand for non-alcoholic drinks.

David Young
Monday 03 July 2023 07:13 EDT
Guinness will almost triple production of its zero-alcohol brand in response to a growing consumer taste for non-alcoholic drinks (Aerial Photography Ireland/Andres Poveda/PA)
Guinness will almost triple production of its zero-alcohol brand in response to a growing consumer taste for non-alcoholic drinks (Aerial Photography Ireland/Andres Poveda/PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Guinness will almost triple production of its zero-alcohol brand in response to a growing consumer taste for non-alcoholic drinks.

Owners Diageo has invested 25 million euro in a new facility at its St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin to meet a surge in demand for alcohol-free stout in the domestic and global markets.

The new production facility includes six processing vessels with a total capacity of 500,000 hectolitres – almost 90 million pints – and a two-storey building where the alcohol is removed through a cold filtration system to create Guinness 0.0.

Guinness 0.0 was launched in 2021 and the company forecasts it is on course to account for 10% of all Guinness sales on the island of Ireland in the coming years.

The main export markets for the zero-alcohol stout include Great Britain, Europe, the United States, Canada, the Middle East and South Korea.

Managing director of Diageo Ireland, Barry O’Sullivan, said Guinness 0.0 is now the top selling non-alcoholic beer in four-pack format on both the island of Ireland and Great Britain.

“This expansion in production capacity at St James’s Gate is a testament to the quality of Guinness 0.0 and the growth of the non-alcoholic category as consumers look for more choice on different occasions,” he said.

“We expect the growth of Guinness 0.0 to be another export success story for Ireland.”

Publican Oliver Barden from O’Donoghue’s in Dublin said zero-alcohol stout is becoming very popular.

“It’s a great tasting alternative for those that want to experience the atmosphere and craic in the pub without any alcohol,” he said.

“I imagine this demand will continue to grow as the availability and quality of non-alcoholic products becomes more widespread.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in