Where is Murphy's Irish Stout brewed?
By Mark Porter Last checked 9 September 2026 How we check
Murphy's Irish Stout is sold as a beer from Ireland. It is brewed in Britain, at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire.
Listed by Tesco and Asda when last checked. The product pages are among the sources below.
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More about the brand: rights, style, when it was created, where it is brewed at home
Verified
The three claims that matter, where the beer sold in the UK is brewed, its UK strength and who owns the brand, each rest on the brewer's own statement or on a seller's page transcribing the pack. Where the exact brewery is inferred rather than named, the page says so.
UK brewing and strength verified from two listings: Tesco 4 x 440ml and Asda 4 x 440ml both print country of origin United Kingdom and 'Brewed and canned by Heineken UK Limited'. The Cork heritage copy on the same packs describes the brand's history, not the current product. The pack names Heineken UK's Edinburgh office, not the brewery, so the UK site is not established. Secondary sources (Wikipedia's Murphy's Irish Stout article) place UK production at Heineken's Tadcaster brewery in North Yorkshire; no Heineken statement has been found, so the site stays unrecorded.
2026-09-09: the Morning Advertiser (1 December 2025) states that Murphy's 'is brewed by Heineken UK in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire', which is trade press naming the site and is recorded as such; the pack still names only Heineken UK's Edinburgh office, so a Heineken statement would be stronger.
Two Tesco listings are on record for Murphy's. The 4 x 440ml listing (320977282) and the Asda 4 x 440ml listing print country of origin United Kingdom and 'Brewed and canned by Heineken UK Limited'. A second Tesco listing (320986576) is recorded as giving country of origin Ireland, with Heineken UK Limited as the responsible address. That page could not be read again on 2026-10-01 (Tesco returned 403), so which pack it describes is not established. The UK-brewed finding rests on the listings that print it; no source has been found that sets the Ireland entry against them.
Scope, 2026-10-01: every figure above comes from can packs sold in supermarkets. Where Murphy's sold on draught in UK pubs is brewed is not established. The trade-press line naming Tadcaster does not say which formats it covers, and the home-market brewery on record is Lady's Well Brewery, Cork.
The small print on the base of a current can or bottle, giving the producer name and address, would settle this.
In short
Everything about the packaging of Murphy's Irish Stout says Ireland: 'Irish Stout' on pack, Cork 1856 heritage, Irish branding. The beer in UK shops is brewed at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire by Heineken UK. It is the same strength here as at home: 4.0%. The brand belongs to Heineken N.V. (Heineken Ireland). On the recipe: Nitrogen-widget canned draught stout. The label says: "Country of origin: United Kingdom. Brewed and canned in the UK. Heineken UK Limited, 6 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2BD."
This page is about the packs sold in supermarkets. Draught in pubs can come from a different brewery, and this page does not cover it unless a format table says so.
Who has brewed it here
| Years | Brewer | Site | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 to now | Heineken (Heineken acquired Murphy's Brewery, Cork, in the early 1980s and it trades today as Heineken Ireland) | Cork | tesco.com |
What changed
- 1 October 2026: verification notes were rewritten
- 9 September 2026: UK brewing sites was "not established", now "Tadcaster, North Yorkshire (John Smith's Brewery), named by the Morning Advertiser, December 2025" (source)
- 8 September 2026: verification notes were rewritten
- 6 September 2026: verification level was partly verified, now verified (source)
Questions people ask
Where is Murphy's Irish Stout brewed?
The beer sold in the UK is brewed at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire by Heineken UK.
Is Murphy's Irish Stout brewed in the UK?
Yes. It is brewed at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire.
Is Murphy's Irish Stout really Irish?
The branding is Irish, but the beer sold in Britain is brewed in the UK at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire.
Who owns Murphy's Irish Stout?
Murphy's Irish Stout is owned by Heineken N.V. (Heineken Ireland), headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In the UK the brand is handled by Heineken UK Limited.
What strength is Murphy's Irish Stout in the UK?
Murphy's Irish Stout is 4.0% ABV in the UK. In Ireland it is 4.0%. A UK pint is 2.3 units.
Is Murphy's Irish Stout weaker in the UK than in Ireland?
No. It is 4.0% in both the UK and Ireland.
See also
Side by side with Guinness Draught.
Every beer sold as Ireland · What else is brewed at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire · Every brand owned by Heineken N.V.
Sources
- Tesco (tesco.com), 5 September 2026: 4% vol; country of origin Ireland; Heineken UK Limited given as the responsible address
- verification pass (tesco.com): Murphy's Draught Irish Stout Can 4x440ml. 4.0% vol. Country of origin: United Kingdom. Brewed and canned in the UK. Heineken UK Limited, 6 St Andrew Square, Edi
- petebrown.net
- Tesco (tesco.com)
- Tesco (tesco.com)
- Asda (asda.com), 6 September 2026: Murphy's Draught Irish Stout 4% ABV Multipack Beer Cans 4 x 440ml: 4.0; Country of Origin United Kingdom; Packed In United Kingdom; 'Brewed and canned by: Heineken UK Limited, 6 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2BD.' Product copy: 'founded in Cork, Ireland, in 1861'.
- Asda (asda.com), 6 September 2026: Murphy's Draught Irish Stout 4% ABV Multipack Beer Cans 10 x 440ml: 4; Heineken UK Limited, Edinburgh; no country of origin field.
- Morning Advertiser (morningadvertiser.co.uk), 1 December 2025: Read 2026-09-09: 'Murphy's is wholly owned by the Heineken group and although established in Cork, Ireland, it is brewed by Heineken UK in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire.' Editorial statement in a piece interviewing Heineken UK's on-trade director.
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