MURPHY'S V's GUINNESS, The big shoot out! Who wins? I sample the Cork stout in Mick Finn's fine Pub.

Stout is almost a religion in Ireland. It has its dedicated devotees. Learn what I thought of Murphy's.

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I’m visiting Mick Finn’s pub in the beautiful town of Clonakilty in County Cork. There’s nothing strange in that – I’m often visiting pubs as you regular Naked Ireland viewers will well know. And when I pay my visits to these great places I’ll invariable have a pint of 'the black stuff' in front of me. Maybe more than one. But it’s today’s 'black stuff' that’s a little different from my usual pint of stout, as you'll see in this film.

So Mick Finn’s is a fairly typical pub, perhaps a bit more modern and comfortable on the inside than I was expecting from the outside. It’s more of a lounge than a pub. But, you can see from the memorabilia on the walls that this is nevertheless a pub with a long history in the town.

The man that lends his name to the pub excelled not just as a Gaelic footballer, winning six county championships with the Clonakilty team, but he also won 7 divisional championship medals as a hurler. His footballing career climaxed with 2 Munster championships and an all Ireland win against Cavan. Even in his youth he had been a star in both Rugby and handball – a real all-rounder.

This is a modernised little bar with a cocktail list to match, which includes a Clonakilty Cosmopolitan - now that might be what’s called an oxymoron!

On the wall there’s a portrait of Michael Collins proudly displayed, he was of course a Cork man with strong links to Clonakilty, which hosts the Michael Collins Museum.

I've come to sample the Cork stout that’s been a rival for the more famous Dublin drink. Now obviously in my long life I’ve had this drink before, but it was quite a while ago. You don’t really see it in Belfast where I’m from, although there was a period years ago where it suddenly appeared there for a while and then disappeared again. So I’m glad to have this opportunity to tuck into one.

Now I mentioned that Murphy’s was not that popular in Belfast, but actually it would be accurate to say that County Cork is really where it’s mostly consumed. It reputedly holds only a 5% share of the Irish Stout market, compared to a 28% share in Cork where it’s brewed. Even a 28% share isn’t massive, although we drink a lot of stout in Ireland so it’s probably substantial in monetary terms.

In my view it’s not significantly different to its main competitor. The marketing describes it as being less heavy and less bitter than the more well known stout, and evocative of caramel and malt – chocolate milk even. I’m not sure could personally nail down the differences between the brews in one sitting – it might take significantly more research. So I’ll try and keep the pints flowing here in Clonakilty as I knuckle down to my serious scientific research. If I don’t do it who will?

Let me know in the comments if Murphy’s is available in your part of Ireland, or indeed in your pub in New York, Montreal, Sydney, Paris, Tokyo – wherever you're tuning in from. Do you prefer it to its slightly more famous competitor? Or, perhaps it’s not something you’ve tried yet? It’ll be interesting to hear your views.

Видео MURPHY'S V's GUINNESS, The big shoot out! Who wins? I sample the Cork stout in Mick Finn's fine Pub. канала Naked Ireland