Murphy's Irish Stout, brewed at the Leitrim Street brewery since 1856, is Cork's answer to Guinness and its Leeside residents are fierce in their loyalty.

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.

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Make it at home

Serves 15 minEasy

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

  1. Chill the can in the fridge for at least 4 hours; cold-conditioning the widget is what produces the proper cascade.
  2. Rinse the pint glass with cold water; do not dry. The wet glass helps the head form evenly.
  3. Hold the glass at a 45 degree angle. Pour the stout slowly down the inside until the glass is two-thirds full.
  4. Set the glass on the bar and wait 90 to 120 seconds. Watch the cascade settle from bottom to top, leaving a creamy head.
  5. Top up with a slow upright pour until the head crowns 5mm above the rim, holding shape.
  6. If feeling traditional, dust a tiny shamrock on the head with cocoa powder through a stencil.
  7. Drink within 5 minutes; Murphy's loses its proper texture as it warms.

Editor tip. 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.