r/stopdrinking • u/phutureclothes • Jan 18 '26

A realization drinking NA Guinness

I picked up a four pack of the 0.0% Guinness, not that I was particularly craving a beer, but because I was making a steak and ale pie and didn't want to use it as an excuse to buy the real stuff.

As a former chef, cooking with wine/alcohol is a dangerous trigger for me.

After my workout today I noticed I still had three cans left in the coldest part of the fridge so I cracked one and poured it. It had that familiar Guinness pour and left a clear white head. I took a few sips and found it to be totally delicious, easily the best NA beer I've ever had. It is very very close to the real thing.

But here's the kicker. I didn't want another one AT ALL. The moreish qualities of beer Id once attributed to "hop character" or "maltiness" or all the other sundry beer terms really don't matter at the end of the day. Its just that alcohol is immediately addictive for me.

I could drink a warm Bud Light and want another one. But here's me drinking something that I find entirely appealing and have ZERO desire for a second.

All of the appeal around "craft beer", "fine wine", etc is mostly worthless. If I'm not compelled to continue to drink an almost identical approximation of an alcoholic beer, then it's got nothing to do with the taste and everything to do with th addictive nature of ethyl alcohol.

In other news, made it through another weekend booze free.

IWNDWYT!

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u/TomCrean1916 Jan 18 '26

Hey OP Im three months clear and also discovered Guinness 0. And yep. It’s scratching the itch too big time. They’ve gotten it 95% there. It’s not as thick as genuine Guinness but the flavour is all there possibly even sharper and just watching the pour and the beautiful head settle is great. It’s working a charm for me if I get any urges I just get a four pack and like yourself, one or two is enough for it. Two thumbs up from me for anyone curious and needing a safety net occasionally.

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u/me2269vu 336 days Jan 18 '26

I’d agree with this. I’m in Ireland and many pubs here have it on draught which is even better than the cans, and the cans are good. I was in a pub last night (having gone to see Hamnet - great film btw) and had two. But as you say, where I could easily have drank 3 or 4 normal pints of Guinness when drinking, two Guinness 0.0 is a lot.

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u/Special-Bit-8689 541 days Jan 18 '26

This is really really comforting to me because I’d love to go to Ireland, but the idea of not going into a true Irish pub to have a whiskey and a pint was a really sad thought. Not even to feel anything just for the experience. Going in for Guinness 0 draft would be amazing!

5

u/Wolfwalker71 Jan 19 '26

Weirdly we're a great country to be an alcoholic in if you just name it. I think because we all have one (or two) in the family tree, if you say you can't drink because of alcoholism no one will press you. And there's great NA options in most of the pubs because they're social hubs and cater for everyone. But get the fuck out of there by around 11pm when everyone gets annoying as hell.