 | |
| Type | Stout |
|---|---|
| Distributor | Heineken International |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Alcohol by volume | 4% |
| Colour | Black |
| Flavour | black coffee |
| Variants | Murphy's Stout 3.5% |
| Website | http://murphys.com |
Murphy's Irish Stout (often simply Murphy's) is a stout brewed at the Murphy's Brewery in Cork, Ireland. It is owned and distributed by the Dutch brewer Heineken International.
It is brewed to be less heavy and less bitter than its chief competitor Guinness. [1] [2] Its flavour is evocative of caramel and malt, [3] and is described as "a distant relative of chocolate milk". [1] The resemblance to milk extends beyond flavour to texture: Murphy's is free from any hint of carbonation, [1] and is delivered "black as strong cappuccino" with an inch of foam – the head – on top. [4] The water of the River Lee in Cork allegedly gave Murphy's its quality.
After years as a solely local stout, the acquisition of the brewery by Heineken in 1983, with a consequent expansion in distribution and international television advertising, exposed Murphy's to the international drinking community. In 1988, Whitbread acquired the distribution and brewing rights for Murphy's in the UK, where it was brewed in the Magor brewery at Magor in Wales. [5] In 2000, these rights went to Interbrew when they acquired Whitbread Brewing Company.
In addition to being distributed in kegs, Murphy's is also available in a can. To simulate the appearance and texture of the tap version, cans of Murphy's contain a nitrogen widget, which increases the creaminess of the head when poured. [6]
Export volumes peaked in the mid-1990s and domestic volume peaked around 2000. [7] The brand is suffering in its native Ireland due to a declining market for stout. [8] It holds a 5 percent share of the Irish stout market, although this is largely a result of its 28 percent share of its native Cork market. [7] Murphy's has a limited presence in Ireland outside of Cork. [7] In 2011, 60,000 hectolitres of Murphy's were sold in Ireland. [9]
Murphy's was launched on draught in the United Kingdom in 1989. Cans were launched in 1992. It is now rarely found on draught in the UK, although is stocked by many major supermarkets in cans. In the UK it is brewed at Heineken's Tadcaster plant in North Yorkshire for the home market and some export markets. [10] According to Euromonitor, Murphy's sold 25,000 hl in the UK in 2011. [9] Murphy's held less than five percent of the British stout market in 2016. [11]
Popular export markets include Norway and Italy. In New York the importer is United States Beverage (USB), which is a premium imported /craft beer sales and marketing company located in Stamford, Connecticut.
In 1992 Whitbread commissioned well known film director Alan Parker to create a series of adverts shot in and around Cork. The campaign "like the Murphy's I'm not bitter" was successful and marked the peak of the brands success in Great Britain. In 1997 an anime television advertisement was created for Murphy's called "Last Orders". [12] It was created by Production I.G (the creators of Ghost in the Shell ), and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. [12] The 60-second film features six fierce samurai who rush through a post-futuristic megalopolis to make it on time for the last order at their favourite pub. It was the first anime style commercial film ever aired in the UK and Ireland. [12]
Murphy's Irish Stout is the main sponsor of the Cork Athletic Union League, an association football league featuring amateur and junior clubs from County Cork. [13] They were also the title sponsor of the Irish Open golf tournament from 1994 to 2002. [14]
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where the European rights to the brand are owned by Heineken International.
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer style which includes dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout.
Mackeson Stout is a milk stout first brewed in 1907. It contains lactose, a sugar derived from milk.
Boddingtons Brewery was a regional brewery in Manchester, England, which owned pubs throughout the North West. Boddingtons was best known for Boddingtons Bitter (Boddies), a straw-golden, hoppy bitter which was one of the first beers to be packaged in cans containing a widget, giving it a creamy draught-style head.
India pale ale (IPA) is a hoppy beer style within the broader category of pale ale.
Bass Brewery is a British brewer founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with an annual output of one million barrels. Its pale ale was exported throughout the British Empire, and the company's iconic red triangle became the UK's first registered trade mark.
Murphy's Brewery, later known as Heineken Brewery Ireland, Ltd, was founded in Cork, Ireland, in 1856 by James J. Murphy. By 1906, Murphy's Brewery was Ireland's second largest brewer after Guinness. It was known as Lady's Well Brewery until it was purchased by Heineken N.V. in 1983, when the name changed to Murphy Brewery Ireland Ltd. The name of the brewery was changed to Heineken Brewery Ireland, Ltd in 2001. The brewery produces Heineken, Murphy's Irish Stout and other Heineken products for the Irish market.
McEwan's is a brand of beer owned by Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. It was originally brewed by William McEwan's Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland. The McEwan's brand passed to Heineken in 2008 after their purchase of Scottish & Newcastle's British operations. Heineken sold the brand to Wells & Young's in 2011, who sold their brewing operation, including the McEwan brand to Marston's in 2017. Cans and bottles are now brewed in Bedford, England.
Castle Lager is a South African pale lager. It is the flagship product of South African Breweries and has been recognised as the National Beer of South Africa, based on the fact that it is 100% grown and produced in the country.
St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is Draught Guinness.
Brewing in Ireland has a long history. Production currently stands at over 8 million hectolitres, and approximately half the alcohol consumed is beer.
Beamish and Crawford was a brewery in Cork, Ireland, established in 1792 by William Beamish and William Crawford on the site of an existing porter brewery. In the early 1800s, it was the largest brewery in Ireland.
A widget is a device placed in a container of beer to manage the characteristics of the beer's head. The original widget was patented in Ireland by Guinness. The "floating widget" is found in cans of beer as a hollow plastic sphere, approximately 3 centimetres (1.2 in) in diameter with two small holes and a seam. The "rocket widget" is found in bottles, 7 centimetres (2.8 in) in length with the small hole at the bottom.
Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (FES) is a stout produced by the Guinness Brewery, an Irish brewing company owned by Diageo, a drinks multinational. First brewed by Guinness in 1801, FES was designed for export, and is more heavily hopped than Guinness Draught and Extra Stout, which gives it a more bitter taste, and typically has a higher alcohol content. The extra hops were intended as a natural preservative for the long journeys the beer would take by ship.
Courage Brewery was an English brewery, founded by John Courage in 1787 in London, England.
Heineken N.V. is a Dutch brewer which owns a worldwide portfolio of over 170 beer brands, mainly pale lager, though some other beer styles are produced. The two largest brands are Heineken and Tecate; though the portfolio includes Amstel, Fosters, Sagres, Cruzcampo, Skopsko, Affligem, Żywiec, Starobrno, Zagorka, Zlatý Bažant, Laško and Birra Moretti.
Caffrey's Irish Ale is an ale launched in 1994 by Bass Brewery and currently owned by Molson Coors.
Guinness is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is now owned by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850,000,000 liters. In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth of beer annually.
Boddingtons Bitter is a straw-golden bitter beer originally produced by Boddington & Co at their Strangeways Brewery in Manchester. It is now owned by AB-InBev and produced at their brewery in Samlesbury, Lancashire.
Porter is a style of beer that was developed in London, England in the early 18th century. It is well-hopped and dark in appearance owing to the use of brown malt. The name is believed to have originated from its popularity with porters.
For most of its first 135 years, Murphy's was available only in draft form in pubs throughout Ireland. A packaging innovation (draughtflow cans) was launched in October 1992. A plastic device (called a widget) is fitted into the bottom of the can which nitrates the liquid after the can is opened, creating the famous creamy head and giving the product a publike taste.
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