Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout
By Big Drop · UK
Big Drop’s milk stout, which it tells you to “think of” as “honeycomb covered in chocolate”. It’s brewed with lactose, so it isn’t vegan, and it’s labelled gluten-free. It won gold at the World Alcohol-Free Awards in 2023, and we score it 8.6 out of 10.
At 0.5% ABV, this isn’t alcohol-free under UK guidance, which keeps the term for 0.05% or less. We list it with alcohol-free beers, as UK shops do. How UK labels work
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What is Galactic Milk Stout?
Galactic Milk Stout is the beer Big Drop is best known for; on its main website it’s now simply called Milk Stout. “Forget the notion this is a beer style that has had its day,” Big Drop says: “think of it as honeycomb covered in chocolate, because that’s exactly what it tastes like.”
Big Drop lists the ingredients as water, malted barley, lactose, oats, rye, cocoa nibs, hops and yeast, with sodium benzoate as a preservative. The lactose means it isn’t vegan. Big Drop labels it gluten-free, at under 20ppm, and gives 31 kcal per 100ml, or 102 kcal a can.
It won gold at the World Alcohol-Free Awards in 2023 and silver in 2024. Big Drop also lists World’s Best titles for it at the World Beer Awards in 2020 and 2021.
Tasting notes and what to expect
Appearance and aroma: Properly black, with a thick tan head. Aroma is roasted malt, milk chocolate, lightly burnt coffee, and a sweet creamy backdrop from the lactose. Recognisably stout — no AF-beer awkwardness in the nose.
Palate and finish: Full body — milk-stout-shaped rather than dry-stout-shaped. Coffee and dark chocolate flavours through the middle, creamy lactose sweetness running underneath, moderate bitterness, finishing sweet rather than dry. The lactose does most of the body work — without it, this would taste much thinner.
Food pairings: Excellent with chocolate-based desserts, oysters and other seafood (traditional stout pairings), grilled meats with charred crust, blue cheeses, and richer winter foods. The sweetness softens spicy foods better than dry stouts manage.
How it compares: Sweeter and creamier than Guinness 0.0 (which is dry-stout-shaped). Less intense than Northern Monk Alcohol-Free Heaven (which is imperial-pastry-stout-shaped). Big Drop Galactic Milk sits in the everyday-AF-stout sweet spot — broader appeal than Alcohol-Free Heaven, more flavour than Guinness 0.0. See the alcohol-free stout hub for context, or the Big Drop brewery page.
Awards
- World Alcohol-Free Awards 2023: gold
- World Alcohol-Free Awards 2024: silver
- World Beer Awards 2020 and 2021: World’s Best titles, according to Big Drop
The World Alcohol-Free Awards results are from the organiser’s website; the World Beer Awards titles are as listed by Big Drop, because the organiser’s site couldn’t be checked. October 2026.
Flavour Profile
A guide based on the style and our review and Big Drop’s description (honeycomb and chocolate), to help you compare at a glance — not a definitive tasting.
Nutrition
| Typical values | Per 100ml | Per 330ml can |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 130 kJ / 31 kcal | about 429 kJ / 102 kcal |
| Fat | <0.5g | <1.7g |
| of which saturates | <0.1g | <0.4g |
| Carbohydrate | <6.9g | <22.8g |
| of which sugars | <2.8g | <9.3g |
| Protein | <0.8g | <2.7g |
| Salt | 0g | 0g |
Per-100ml figures from Big Drop’s website, checked October 2026. Per-pack figures are our own sums from the 100ml figures. Dry Drinker’s listing, from an older label, gives 27.5 kcal per 100ml.
Key facts
| Official name | Galactic Milk Stout (Milk Stout on Big Drop’s main website) |
|---|---|
| Brewery | Big Drop, UK |
| Style | Milk stout |
| ABV | 0.5% ABV, according to Big Drop |
| Pack | 330ml can |
| Calories | 31 kcal per 100ml; about 102 per 330ml can |
| Carbohydrate | <6.9g per 100ml |
| Sugar | <2.8g per 100ml |
| Ingredients | Water, malted barley, lactose (milk), oats, rye, cocoa nibs, hops and yeast, with sodium benzoate as a preservative (Big Drop’s website) |
| Hops | Not named by Big Drop |
| Bitterness | 35 IBU, according to Big Drop |
| Allergens | Barley, oats, rye (gluten) and milk (lactose) |
| Vegan | No: it contains lactose |
| Gluten | Labelled gluten-free: Big Drop says every beer in its range is under 20ppm, the limit for a gluten-free claim |
| How it’s made | Brewed to 0.5% rather than de-alcoholised, Big Drop says |
| Brewed | Under contract in the UK; Big Drop doesn’t own a brewery |
| Awards | World Alcohol-Free Awards 2023: gold; 2 more listed above |
| UK availability | In stock online |
Sources: Big Drop’s website and shop, Ocado, Dry Drinker, Wise Bartender, the World Alcohol-Free Awards and the trade press, checked October 2026. The label on the can or bottle is always the final word.
How Galactic Milk Stout sits in the Big Drop range
| Beer | Style | ABV | Per 100ml | Unhopped score | UK status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galactic Milk Stout (this beer) | Milk stout | 0.5% | 31 kcal | 8.6 | In stock online |
| Pine Trail Pale Ale | Pale ale | 0.5% | 18.5 kcal | 8.5 | In stock online and at Ocado |
| Paradiso Citra IPA | IPA (some shops list it as a pale ale) | 0.5% | 3 kcal | 8.2 | In stock online and at Ocado |
| Reef Point Lager | Lager | 0.5% | 4 kcal | 7.9 | In stock online |
| Poolside DDH IPA | Double dry-hopped IPA | 0.5% | 8 kcal | 8.6 | No longer in Big Drop’s range; Ocado still listed it |
The Big Drop beers in our directory, checked October 2026. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10. Big Drop’s current range also includes a Brown Ale and Cloudburst Passion Fruit Lager, which aren’t in our directory.
About Big Drop
Big Drop was launched in 2016 by Rob Fink, then a City lawyer, and his school friend James Kindred, and its founder calls it the UK’s first alcohol-free-only brewery. It has never owned a brewery: its beers are brewed to 0.5% under contract, in the UK now by Renegade Brewery and Powderkeg. Big Drop says every beer it makes is labelled gluten-free.
See all Big Drop beers →Track every beer, discover your taste archetype, join the community.
Door 24 of our alcohol-free advent calendar. Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout is one of the 24 beers in the calendar you can build yourself, chosen from the highest scorers in our reviews. See the full line-up, and every ready-made calendar on sale this year, in our alcohol-free advent calendar guide. It’s also door 24 of the 24-beer calendar you can buy in one order.
