The Long Valley Bar ★ 4.5
Established in 1842 and run by the Moynihan family since 1927, the Long Valley is Cork's most storied bar. The counter is famously long, the decor unchanged.
History
James J Murphy founded the Lady's Well Brewery on Leitrim Street in 1856; the brewery still sits beside the natural spring that gives the beer its name. Murphy's Stout, now owned by Heineken and brewed in the same Cork city site, has a lighter, less roasted character than Dublin's stout, with a faint chocolate sweetness and a creamier head. The Cork pub canon insists on the slow two-part pour, three minutes settling, then topped flat to the rim; serving temperature is 6 to 8 degrees Celsius. Murphy's outsells Guinness in Cork and parts of Munster, and the proper pour is a point of regional pride debated at the Hi-B and Mutton Lane Inn.
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1 can Murphy's Irish Stout (440ml widget can) at 6C to 8C
- 1 imperial pint glass (Murphy's branded if you have one), rinsed cold
- Optional: cocoa powder, for the classic Cork shamrock dust on the head
Method
- Chill the can in the fridge for at least 4 hours; cold-conditioning the widget is what produces the proper cascade.
- Rinse the pint glass with cold water; do not dry. The wet glass helps the head form evenly.
- Hold the glass at a 45 degree angle. Pour the stout slowly down the inside until the glass is two-thirds full.
- Set the glass on the bar and wait 90 to 120 seconds. Watch the cascade settle from bottom to top, leaving a creamy head.
- Top up with a slow upright pour until the head crowns 5mm above the rim, holding shape.
- If feeling traditional, dust a tiny shamrock on the head with cocoa powder through a stencil.
- Drink within 5 minutes; Murphy's loses its proper texture as it warms.
Tip from the editors. Pouring from the tap is always better than a can; the canned widget pour is the home compromise that gets you about 80 percent of the way there.
Where to eat murphy's stout properly poured
Murphy's Stout Properly Poured in Cork
An Spailpin Fanach ★ 4.5
Cork's archetypal trad pub since 1779, across from the old Beamish brewery, with live trad sessions five nights and a late bar until 02:00 on weekends.
The Mutton Lane Inn ★ 4.4
Cork's most photogenic traditional pub, reached down a laneway off Patrick Street that the English Market guidebooks barely mention. The dark, fire-warmed.
Why locals love it: Mutton Lane is a narrow passage off Patrick Street that leads into the English Market complex.
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