Murphy’s Taproom

Nestled on Elm St, across from the arena, lies the place with the most beer taps in the Manchester area. The food is good pub food, the beer choices exceptional, which helps to make up for the below average service. Overall, a must stop for beer lovers visiting Manchester.

More than 100 beers on tap. Located on the south side of Elm Street. Not a lot of off street parking but there is street parking. Dinner is served upstairs and they have live entertainment in the basement. The basement bar only has about 20 or so beers on tap but you can go upstairs and pick from the 100+ in the dining area to bring into the basement. That is what I usually do since the basement choices are pretty standard ones. They offer an array of flights for $12-$13. One of my favorite flights is the Tourist Flight, which features all New Hampshire beers. The food is pretty typical pub fare but it is decently done. Not a huge place so get there early if you want to get a seat.

Stopped in here for a late lunch and a few beers while watching the pats barely squeak out a win. A sports bar kind of feel with a large selection on tap, I’m guessing 50+ They have remodeled extensively since I was here last. A new diner next door lots of outdoor seating and a vastly expanded tap list. I had a burger today that was quite good. A few decent brews on tap. Pricing is average to a bit pricy. I would go back again.

Comfy bar situated 2 minutes east by car from the Manchester Transit Authority Station. By foot, you’re looking at 10-12 minutes, 15 minutes tops—hardly a long walk. Its location, however, is an odd one: there’s a restaurant called "Murhpy’s Diner" essentially sharing the same parking lot, so when I wandered in, you bet I was confused to see the abysmal selection for beer sitting in their fridge in what seemed to me like a failed attempt to revive a 50s jukebox diner to the area. Right then I had the notion that the lady who had given me the craft bar recommendation might have been delusive, if not downright fallacious in her thinking. I was going to ask a server if I was indeed at the right place, but it was completely dead and remained in such a way until I left six minutes afterwards. Kind of eerie. I exited feeling as if I had just survived some sort of fatal widespread plague. The real "Murphy’s" had no sign visible from the entrance of the diner, but an acoustic guitarist packing up his set from the patio was a strong indication that it was the place I had been looking for. When I went in, first thing I noticed was that it was only really illuminated by the sunlight emerging through the windows above the bar. Second thing I noticed, was that the tap list was big, perhaps too big: I ordered a 4oz. pour of imperial stout, and the bartender, bless his heart, couldn’t remember which tap handle it had belonged to. They do have a monstrous miscellany, but only a 1/4 I’d say of the choices are limited local items, while the rest are pretty typical widely-available craft picks that any decent gas station would have. The burger I had was juicy, and memorable. I’d go again, but this is a lot to wrap my head around. Comfy, but congested.

A nice little something different in Manchester. Has a good staff that actually has beer knowledge, and their selection of brews is pretty descent. They have daily specials that won’t break the wallet for both food and beer. If you feel like relaxing in a bar or dancing in a club, well this place has both. Boring Manchester needed a place like this.