Murphy's Irish Stout (often simply Murphy's) is a

stout Stout is a type of dark beer that is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout. Stout is a type of ale. The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in the E ...

brewed at the Murphy's Brewery in Cork, Ireland. It is owned and distributed by the Dutch brewer

Heineken International Heineken Naamloze vennootschap, N.V. (), branded as The Heineken Company is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational brewery, brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. Heineken owns over 165 breweries in m ...

Flavour profile

It is brewed to be less heavy and less bitter than its chief competitor

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

. Its flavour is evocative of

caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

and

malt Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting". Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...

, and is described as "a distant relative of

chocolate milk Chocolate milk is a type of flavoured milk made by mixing cocoa solids with milk (either dairy or plant-based). It is a food pairing in which the milk's mouthfeel masks the dietary fibres of the cocoa solids. Types The liquid carbohy ...

". The resemblance to milk extends beyond flavour to texture: Murphy's is free from any hint of

carbonation Carbonation is the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid. In chemistry, the term is sometimes used in place of carboxylation, which refers to the formation of carboxylic acids. In inorganic che ...

, and is delivered "black as strong cappuccino" with an inch of foam – the head – on top. The water of the River Lee in Cork allegedly gave Murphy's its quality.

History

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 Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in L ...

acquired the distribution and brewing rights for Murphy's in the UK, where it was brewed in the Magor brewery at Magor in Wales. In 2000, these rights went to

Interbrew Interbrew is subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is based in Breda, Netherlands. It has one subsidiary, Ambev S.A. of São Paulo, Brazil. Brands Interbrew brands have historically included Budweiser, Stella Artois, Boddingtons Brewery, Boddi ...

when they acquired Whitbread Brewing Company.

Widget

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 A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

when poured.

Sales

Export volumes peaked in the mid-1990s and domestic volume peaked around 2000. The brand is suffering in its native Ireland due to a declining market for stout. 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. Murphy's has a limited presence in Ireland outside of Cork. In 2011, 60,000 hectolitres of Murphy's were sold in Ireland.Alcoholic Drinks: Euromonitor from trade sources/national statistics

Overseas markets

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 Tadcaster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north-east of Leeds and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the lowest road crossing-point o ...

plant in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

for the home market and some export markets. According to Euromonitor, Murphy's sold 25,000 hl in the UK in 2011. Murphy's held less than five percent of the British stout market in 2016. 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.

Advertising

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 is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television advertisement was created for Murphy's called "Last Orders".Production I.G [WORK LIST[Details]]
/ref> It was created by Production I.G">ORK LIST[Details]]">Production I.G [WORK LIST[Details]]
/ref> It was created by Production I.G (the creators of ''Ghost in the Shell''), and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. 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.

Sponsorship

Murphy's Irish Stout is the main sponsor of the Cork Athletic Union League, an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league featuring amateur and junior clubs from

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. They were also the title sponsor of the Irish Open golf tournament from

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

.sportspromedia.com
– Heineken to sponsor Irish Open – 27 July 2011

References

External links

* {{Authority control Heineken brands Beer brands of Ireland