Guinness Doubles Down on Nonalcoholic Beer With $32 Million Expansion

(Photo: Diageo)

These days, all you need to build a beer brand is a can and a label — no alcohol necessary.

On Tuesday, Guinness announced a $32 million investment earmarked for the production of zero-proof stout at its St. James Gate brewery in Dublin. The move will allow the company to double its output of Guinness 0.0 to nearly 176 million pints per year.

Brand owner Diageo, the British spirits conglomerate behind brands like Johnnie Walker, Casamigos and Baileys, has invested a total of over $60 million into Guinness 0.0 since its launch three years ago. The gamble has already paid off. Food Manufacturer reports that sales of the alcohol-free beer increased by nearly 50% between 2023 and 2024. The brew is currently available at over 1,700 pubs across Ireland and is easily findable in the U.S.

“Today’s investment is further evidence of our commitment to Guinness 0.0 and underpins the bright future we see for the non-alc category. It will allow us to double our capacity for Guinness 0.0 and meet the ever-growing demand from consumers as they move towards moderation and look for more choice when it comes to great tasting, premium non-alcohol products,” Aidan Crowe, beer operations director at Diageo,  remarked.

Thanks in no small part to Dry January and the trending popularity of mocktails, nonalcoholic beer has witnessed an explosion over the past couple of years. On the one hand, you have recognizable names like Heineken, Budweiser and Samuel Adams that are putting zero-ABV twists on their flagship products. On the other, you’ll find upstarts like Athletic Brewing Co. that are committed exclusively to the concept. Even “Spider-Man” actor Tom Holland has gotten in on the action with his latest venture, BERO.

The category is projected to reach a value of $35.93 billion by 2031, up from around $23 billion in 2023.

Diageo — a company that’s struggled to face industry headwinds over the past few months — has been eager to invest. At the end of September, the firm acquired a controlling stake in Ritual Zero-Proof, a leading American brand that sells nonalcoholic renditions of whiskey, gin, aperitifs, tequila and rum. The company also owns Seedlip, recognized as one of the top three best-selling nonalcoholic spirits brands in the world.

With Guinness 0.0, Diageo hopes to expand its success into the ale market. But does the flavor add up?

The beer has reviewed quite well across the board, surprisingly so for a product that lacks that quintessential boozy bite. In a glowing writeup, Free Beer reported that the can cracks open with the famous “pschhttt” that consumers have come to expect from Guinness products, adding that its flavor, though thin, provides plenty of malt, chocolate and coffee notes. Guinness 0.0 currently sits at #5 on Beer Advocate’s crowd-sourced low-alcohol beer ranking, notching in slightly lower than a handful of Athletic Brewing Co. and Samuel Adams releases.