Why is Murphy's Stout so hard to find?

I love Murphy's. To me, it is much better than Guinness or Beamish. But, it is very hard to find now. Most of the beer stores in my area (Harford County MD) do not have it anymore and all of the bars only had it for St. Patty's Day. I have the clone kit from AHB and will make it this week but it needs to age for 8 weeks.

Any ideas? I like Guinness but good Lord, give me some choice.

I live in Cecil County and Stateline Liquors right off 95 in Elkton always has it. I agree....love the stuff....(Enjoy SA's Cream stout as a change up also....) but it IS hard to find....not sure I've ever seen it anywhere else.... Hmmm..the liquour store by the Wal-mart in Belair doesn't have it? They usually have a good stock of beers too....

Agreed - State Line is the BEST place around.

In Harco - the only option you have for GOOD beer is Wine World near Wal-Mart in Abingdon. Right inside the Bal County line on rt 40 is a nice place (I forget the name) that usually has some decent stuff.

Why aren't the 2 of you guys brewing with the MD brewday group?

I wonder if it's just a local (lack of) demand thing. Have you asked your bottle shop about it?

I see it here all the time but, it's just not something I grab frequently. I prefer the Younges Double Chocolate when available.

The reason why it's so tough to get is that it's only made in Cork, whereas Guinness is brewed around the world. When you only have a small brewery, no matter how large your distribution network (in this case, Heineken), you'll never be able to keep the channel completely filled.

khiddy said:

The reason why it's so tough to get is that it's only made in Cork, whereas Guinness is brewed around the world. When you only have a small brewery, no matter how large your distribution network (in this case, Heineken), you'll never be able to keep the channel completely filled.

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I prefer it to Guinness too but even here in Ireland it only really sells well in Cork. Guinness is hugely dominant probably outselling Murphy's by 20 to 1.

jezter6 said:

Agreed - State Line is the BEST place around.

In Harco - the only option you have for GOOD beer is Wine World near Wal-Mart in Abingdon. Right inside the Bal County line on rt 40 is a nice place (I forget the name) that usually has some decent stuff.

Why aren't the 2 of you guys brewing with the MD brewday group?

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I go to Wine World for my beer and they haven't had it or only 2 four packs when they do. Stinks. I quit going down to Midway Liquors in Bal'more County because they cut back on their selection. Time to brew my own. I have a stout faucet and beer gas ready to go. I need to get on it.

I will check out the MD brew day group. Thanks to all for the responses.

Its on sale at whole foods for $4.50 4pack. Great stuff! all 8 cans I got yesterday are gone.

Diablo said:

I prefer it to Guinness too but even here in Ireland it only really sells well in Cork. Guinness is hugely dominant probably outselling Murphy's by 20 to 1.

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I agree, when I was living in Dublin there were only a few pubs that had Murphy's, and when I ordered it I got some nasty looks

The irony on all of this is that Murphy's (in cans) is widely available in Point Roberts, Washington - a wee little exclave of the U.S.A that you have to go through Canada to get to. It's literally a few square miles of America hanging off of Canada like an appendix. Thank the 1846 Oregon Treaty. Great spot, but isolated from the rest of WA ... and lots of Murphy's.

We live in a weird world indeed.

I lurves me some Murphy's, I have a can in my fridge right next to the Guinness. But then I live in Beervana, where we can get all three (Beamish being the third) Irish stouts at the neighborhood grocery store - I don't even have to make a trip to a bottle shop!

Diablo said:

I prefer it to Guinness too but even here in Ireland it only really sells well in Cork. Guinness is hugely dominant probably outselling Murphy's by 20 to 1.

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So is Murphys plentiful throughout Ireland or is it more regional?

I like Beamish too but it lacks body. Kind of watery.

I think they've had the same 4 pack of Murphys at our neighborhood Publix for several months now. You can tell since there's only one and it's been laying on its side. Probably a supply/demand thing since most people reach for Guinness.

Murphy's is way better than Guinness. Has a more pronounced bite. I agree - harder to find tho. I hate Beamish.

mymbtheduke said:

So is Murphys plentiful throughout Ireland or is it more regional?

I like Beamish too but it lacks body. Kind of watery.

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It's available in cans everywhere. A lot of pubs have it on draught but it's most popular around Cork. The problem with draught stout is if people think there isn't "a good run" on the keg they won't drink it. For example, I know Murphy's drinkers from Cork who will switch to Guinness when in Dublin because the Murphy's keg has probably been sitting around for a while.

Beamish is often marketed as a low cost stout. It is also popular in Cork. It was recently announced that the Beamish brewery is to close and brewing will be merged with the Murphy's facility (both now owned by Heineken).

Murphy's is very good. I order it whenever I see it, which is once or twice a year. Mostly at the beer gardens around here. Also, Murphys Red is phenomenal

Diablo said:

It's available in cans everywhere. A lot of pubs have it on draught but it's most popular around Cork. The problem with draught stout is if people think there isn't "a good run" on the keg they won't drink it. For example, I know Murphy's drinkers from Cork who will switch to Guinness when in Dublin because the Murphy's keg has probably been sitting around for a while.

Beamish is often marketed as a low cost stout. It is also popular in Cork. It was recently announced that the Beamish brewery is to close and brewing will be merged with the Murphy's facility (both now owned by Heineken).

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Thanks much. I just heard the news about Beamish. I find Beamish to be too watery. One nice thing about Murphy's can is that they are 16oz not 14.9 like Guinness and Beamish. That is an extra can per case.

I will be brewing my AHB Murphys clone on Sat morning. Should know if it is good in a couple of months.

I like Murphy's much more than Guiness, guiness has a metallic taste to me that I can't get past. Sometimes as a draft in a bar it is ok, must be just how long it sits in the bottle/can or something. Murphy's is always rich and smooth. I bet I would like guiness in ireland, the same as how much I like Heinekin & Amstel in Amsterdam, but hate it in the states. Fresh just makes the difference.

Nugent I wonder why Point Roberts wasn't just put into Canada, seems such an odd thing to do, not accessable at all by land excpet through cananda (I hope we have very strict border control there to prevent all those illegal canuks from getting in... j/k). Was it an important harbor or a source of minerals, etc. that the US felt it must have. Sorry I know that is off topic, but very interesting nonetheless. Of course Alaska is the same, but there is well documented reasons for that.

Zenman said:

Nugent I wonder why Point Roberts wasn't just put into Canada, seems such an odd thing to do, not accessable at all by land excpet through cananda (I hope we have very strict border control there to prevent all those illegal canuks from getting in... j/k). Was it an important harbor or a source of minerals, etc. that the US felt it must have. Sorry I know that is off topic, but very interesting nonetheless. Of course Alaska is the same, but there is well documented reasons for that.

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Pig War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 49th parallel cuts across it. Above, Canada; below is US territory.

Here in California they have it at trader joes.....

ah thanks gplutt, forgot about that 49th thing, would have thought someone would have said 'hey but this little bit land should stay in canada...', but that is guvment for ya.

I find Beamish to be a good session beer. And it sits atop Woodpecker or Dry Blackthorn quite well.
I do love Murphy's tho.
I'm also not a huge fan of Guinness in the States these days, despite it being the first beer I drank in any quantity in high school.
All 3 are usually available here (at Topp's Liquors. If hell looks like that store, I don't wanna go to heaven.)
But I've also discovered the shear volume of stouts available these days. I don't buy Murphy's nor Beamish much these days.

I wonder if the Murphy's lack of wide spread appeal...(in the states at least) is due to the can-only option. I wonder if the stigma of canned beer being cheap...(although I know that isn't necessarily true...) is a turn off for people. I don't mind paying 8.99 for 4 cans of quality brew....but the layman will probably run away....

Have you voted?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f5/whats-your-favorite-irish-stout-82349/

BTW, I had a can of Murphy's yesterday while reading the Stout chapter of "Designing Great Beers". While I was pouring the can, I noticed that it says right on there that it was "Brewed and Caned by InBev UK LTD, Luton, United Kingdom, under the supervision of Murphy Brewery Ireland LTD."

So I would like to retract my earlier statement that all Murphy's is brewed in Cork. It may well be that all Murphy's is produced at one brewery for export (and thus, limited in production), but my blanket statement about Cork is hereby amended!