Murphy's Brewery
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Murphy's Brewery is a brewery based in Cork, Republic of Ireland and has a history tracing back to 1856. Since 2001 its official name has been Murphy Heineken Brewery Ireland Ltd, as part of a previous takeover by Heineken.
In 2002 their most famous and well-known beer, Murphys Irish Stout, won the gold medal at the International Beer Olympics competition in Brighton, United Kingdom.
The brewers describe Murphys Irish Stout as "smooth and creamy, with a subtle bitterness," and is a main competitor of Guinness.
[edit] Murphy's Stout
Murphy's is a stout. The Murphy Brewery was founded by James J. Murphy in Cork, Ireland in 1856. The stout is synomous with Cork, as is its close cousin Beamish Stout also brewed in Cork.
It comes in two kinds:
- Murphy's Irish Stout, a dark, dry, stout
- Murphy's Irish Red, an Irish red ale
Murphys Irish Stout has a less bitter, 'nuttier / slight hint of coffee' flavour than the more famous Guinness brand of stout. The manufacturers had a television advertising campaign which played on this fact — "like the Murphy's, I'm not bitter".
It is widely available throughout Ireland but isn't actually drunk a great deal outside of its native Cork, where it is far more popular than the redoubtable Guinness brand.
Guinness has a much greater market penetration elsewhere in Ireland and many drinkers consider Murphy's to be inferior in flavour. The irony of the situation is that this is certainly true in pubs outside of Cork precisely because so few pints of it are poured and sold. It is commonly recognised that if beer isn't being poured through a particular tap with regularity then the resultant pint will be far inferior to a beer from a tap where the beer is poured regularly. This is doubly true of any stout. In this manner a pub with a reputation for stout is at least partially self-fulfilling as its sales of stout increase and more stout is poured. The opposite is also true. Visitors to Cork who customarily drink Guinness and are accustomed to low quality Murphys are often surprised at the much tastier pint available in Cork.
