by Murphy's Brewery (Heineken)
With a nod to St Patrick’s Day on 17th March, I thought we should include a classic Irish beer in this month’s pack. The natural choice would of course be a Guinness, but wanting to be a little more niche I’ve opted for this Murph’s Irish Stout.
Murphy’s Brewery was established in 1856 by the Murphy brothers (who’d have guessed that!) in the southern city of Cork. And for much of its life, the beer remained very localised to Cork and the surrounding area. In 1982 the brewery was declared bankrupt, and subsequently purchased by Heineken in 1983.
With Heineken in charge, the profile of the beer was increased and distribution was far more reaching. But it only held a relatively small 5% of the stout market in Ireland, so was never a real threat to Guinness.
Naturally, the two beers are always compared, with Murphy’s marketing itself as being ‘less bitter’ than Guinness in some iconic advertistments in the 1990’s.
And it is true, the beer is smooth and creamy, with a good dose of sweet caramel malt. The can of course contains the famous widget to offer the creamy mouthfeel of the nitrogen-fuelled draft version. There really isn’t much – if any – sign of bitterness at all in this beer.
I haven’t had one of these in a long time prior to writing these notes, so it was nice to reacquaint myself with this quintessentially Irish beer again.
