Guinness 0.0 vs Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout: Which AF Stout Wins?
Published May 2026 · Updated October 2026 · 6-minute read · by Rich, founder of Unhopped
AF stout used to be the hardest category in alcohol-free brewing — the rich body and roasted character of a good stout don't survive most alcohol-removal processes intact. These two beers are the proof that the category has cracked it. They've taken different routes to get there, and the result is two very different drinking experiences.
Dry stout vs milk stout — different beers entirely
Before comparing the two specific beers, the categories matter. Guinness 0.0 is an alcohol-free dry stout — that's the original Irish-style template, characterised by roasted barley, low residual sugar, a dry finish, and a nitrogen pour. Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout is an alcohol-free milk stout — a sweeter style, brewed with lactose for body and sweetness, leaning towards the dessert end of stout.
If you reach for a Guinness in a pub and reach for a sweet stout at the supermarket for after dinner, you'd buy both of these — they serve different occasions.
How they're made
Guinness 0.0 is brewed at St. James's Gate in Dublin — same brewery, same recipe starting point as full-strength Guinness Draught. The brew goes through full fermentation and maturation, then the alcohol is removed by cold filtration, which Guinness describes as a gentle method. The ingredients also include fructose and natural flavourings. It first went on sale in the UK in October 2020, was recalled within weeks over possible microbiological contamination, and was relaunched in Great Britain in August 2021.
Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout is brewed to strength: Big Drop says it brews to 0.5% from the start, using less grain, rather than removing alcohol from a full-strength beer (in 2021 it called this Reduced Amylase Brewing). Ingredients include malted barley, oats, rye, lactose (for body and sweetness), cocoa nibs, hops and yeast, with sodium benzoate as a preservative. Big Drop are an alcohol-free-only specialist, founded in 2016 by Rob Fink and James Kindred.
| Guinness 0.0 | Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout | |
|---|---|---|
| ABV | 0.0% on the label | 0.5% |
| Style | Dry stout | Milk stout (sweet) |
| Calories per 330ml | ~56 kcal (17 per 100ml; about 75 in its 440ml can) | 102 kcal (31 per 100ml) |
| Brewing process | Full brew + cold filtration to remove alcohol | Brewed to 0.5%, never de-alcoholised (Big Drop) |
| Brewery | St. James's Gate, Dublin | UK (contract-brewed) |
| Mouthfeel | Light-medium, dry | Full, sweet, viscous |
| Vegan | Yes, Guinness says (brewed without isinglass) | No (contains lactose) |
| Gluten-free | No (barley) | Labelled gluten-free (<20ppm) |
| Adjuncts | Fructose, natural flavourings | Lactose, cocoa nibs |
| UK supermarkets | Widely stocked, including Tesco, Ocado and Morrisons | Ocado + specialists |
| UK draught | Small-scale pub trials only; pubs mostly sell 538ml cans | Cans only |
| Awards | None we could confirm | World Alcohol-Free Awards gold (2023); World’s Best titles at the World Beer Awards, Big Drop says |
How they actually taste
Guinness 0.0 — the Guinness experience, lighter
Guinness 0.0 looks like Guinness — deep ruby-black with a creamy tan head, the iconic nitro cascade settling beautifully when poured from the widget can. Aroma is roasted barley, dry coffee, faint underlying sweetness.
On the palate, it's light-to-medium body — slightly thinner than full-strength Guinness — with the same dry roasted-grain character through the palate. Modest bitterness, creamy mouthfeel from the nitrogen, finishing dry with a lingering coffee-roasted note. Drink from cold draught or properly chilled cans; warmer, the body gap to full-strength becomes more apparent. Our verdict: close, but not quite Guinness.
Big Drop Galactic — dessert beer territory
Galactic Milk Stout pours 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 in profile — no AF-beer awkwardness in the nose.
On the palate, Galactic is full-bodied — 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. This is honeycomb-covered-in-chocolate territory, which is exactly how Big Drop describe it.
The dietary differences matter here
Guinness 0.0 is vegan; Big Drop Galactic is not. Guinness stopped using isinglass (a fish-derived fining agent) in draught Guinness in 2016 and in its bottles and cans in 2018, and it has said Guinness 0.0 is brewed without it too. Big Drop Galactic contains lactose (milk sugar), which is integral to the milk stout style. Big Drop says its Paradiso, Reef Point Lager and newer Pale Ale recipe are vegan, but its Brown Ale contains lactose too, and so does the Pine Trail Pale Ale label the shops list.
Big Drop Galactic is gluten-free; Guinness 0.0 is not. Big Drop labels Galactic gluten-free, at under 20ppm (the regulatory bar for "gluten-free" labelling), crediting its brewing techniques, though it's brewed with barley, oats and rye. Guinness 0.0 is brewed with barley malt and contains gluten.
If you have specific dietary requirements, this is the clearest decision point: Guinness 0.0 is the vegan one; Big Drop Galactic is the gluten-free one; neither suits anyone who avoids both lactose and gluten.
Where each one wins
Stout, explained. Where the style came from and every type, from Irish to imperial: what is a stout? What really separates the two dark beers: stout vs porter. And the seven alcohol-free stouts we rank, priced at three shops: the best alcohol-free stouts.
How they fit in the wider AF stout category
These two are the best-known choices in UK alcohol-free stout, but the category does have a top tier above them. Northern Monk's Alcohol-Free Heaven pushes harder on adjuncts and body — imperial-style territory, much sweeter and richer than either of these. For the full picture, see our alcohol-free stout hub.
Both are in our advent calendar. Guinness 0.0 is door 5 and Galactic Milk Stout door 24 of the alcohol-free advent calendar you can build yourself, and Happy Days sells a 12-can Guinness 0.0 advent calendar for £34.95.
Beers to explore
Both featured beers below — easiest to compare side by side.
