Aldi to launch own-label Guinness rival Mulligan’s Stout

Aldi has unveiled Mulligan’s Stout – a new own-label stout pitched as a cheaper alternative to Guinness.

Mulligan’s Stout will roll out across the retailer’s estate from 8 September.

The stout offered “notes of roasted malt, dark chocolate, and sweet toffee”, Aldi said.

And at £4.99 per 4x440ml pack, the stout was 13% cheaper than Guinness in Sainsbury’s (£5.75), it pointed out.

“Mulligan’s delivers a delicious stout. Whether perfecting the ‘split the M’ or hosting friends, it looks and tastes the part, for less than a familiar alternative,” Aldi said.

In customer testing against Guinness, Mulligan’s had come out on top of the Diageo-owned stout, according to the retailer.

One customer said: “That’s fantastic, what a beer. It’s rich, it’s creamy, good mouthfeel, roasted malt coming through. For me, the Mulligan’s wins.”

Another said they “definitely preferred it over canned Guinness”.

Aldi is also preparing to launch Specially Selected Chocolate Stout (£1.79, 500ml) – a dark brew “with indulgent cocoa notes, balanced by roasted malt”. It will also land in stores from next month, joining Aldi’s Specially Selected Coffee Stout in the retailer’s bottled stout lineup.

It comes on the back of renewed interest in stout, driven by the growth of Guinness in the past few years.

According to The Grocer’s Britain’s Biggest Alcohol Brands report 2025, Guinness was worth £240.4m, having grown value by an impressive 155% in the last decade [NIQ 52 w/e 19 April 2025].

However, since then sales growth has moderated and volumes have turned negative. They’re down 5% over the past 26 weeks, and 7.4% in the past 12 weeks compared with last year [NIQ 26 w/e 12 July 2025].

A 4x440ml pack of Guinness Draught now commands an average pre-promotional price of £5.90 across Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose, 53p higher than a year ago [Assosia 52 w/e 13 August 2025].