I have the best Guinness in Manchester and it's the best outside of Ireland

In an era when demand for Guinness was so high the brewery had to ration it to pubs and Netflix was making a Peaky Blinders-style TV show about Sir Arthur’s clan, it’s probably fair to say that Dublin’s most famous export has never been more iconic.

Once having a ‘pint of plain’ was something old men in flat caps did in backstreet alehouses. Now TikTokers are ‘splitting the G’.

But for all the gimmicks and shamrocks drawn in heads, worshippers at the altar of St James’s Gate brewery - myself included - are a picky bunch. Is it the right temperature, is the head creamy enough, is the glass the right shape, does the froth stick to the glass? Like the mystical Yin Yang symbol, the microcosm of universal perfection can be found in the separation of the black and the white - and a glass with a harp on it.

And so for Mulligan’s in Manchester to be ranked as serving the best pint of Guinness outside Ireland is a big deal.

The 170-year-old pub at the back of Deansgate began life as the Waggon and Horses but has been Mulligan’s since the 1990s. Since Dubliner Pádraig Brady took it over in 2013 it has grown its reputation for serving exceptional Guinness and having live music seven nights a week.

In January 2025, it was recognised as the Best Pub in Manchester at the Manchester Food and Drink Award and before that it was ranked as the best Guinness in Britain by “Guinness Guru” Daragh Curran.

On his Youtube channel Curran noted it was ‘poured to perfection’ and ‘tastes like home’ saying it was comparable to the top five pubs in Dublin.

He doesn’t give such praise lightly - even pubs overlooking the Liffey are regularly given short shrift by him.

I arrive at Mulligan’s just before noon. Downstairs is already busy. We head to the new upstairs area where landlord Brady waits for me. We are half an hour into him interviewing himself before he says to me, “so anyway, ask me anything you like.”

He is exactly what you would want in a pub landlord. Knowledgeable, committed, funny and generous. He pours me a pint from upstairs where the lines haven't warmed up yet, and then has an elite pint brought up from downstairs so I can test them both (the things I do in the name of thorough journalism). He's right of course. The extra three degrees makes all the difference. "Take two good glugs with that first sip" he advises. I can confirm it's a flawless pint.

Talking about the honour of the best Guinness in Britain he says, “I never say it’s the best pint of Guinness. Other people say that.

“We make sure it’s exceptional. We have to make sure people agree with the Guinness guru that it’s an excellent pint of Guinness. We became renowned for that.”

He tells me about how he grew the pub from a busy boozer to the institution it is today.

Brady tells me that during lockdown he was able to sit back and take stock of what Mulligans should become.

“Obviously it was a terrible time for people and for businesses. But I thought the one thing you never get in pubs is time. I had a few quid in the bank. So I said f–k it we are going to start building. I ripped the place apart and built a snug. I wanted to double down on service.

“Mulligans was known for good Guiness, sport and music. I didn’t want to be renowned for just one thing. Just after the pandemic I decided we would do live music seven days a week.

“A pal of mine Tim [He refers frequently to Tim Flynn, a fellow publican he clearly respects. The Kerryman runs Salford’s New Oxford, another great Manchester pub where Brady recommends I should try the Beamish] said I’d gone mad.

"A few others told me I was barking mad. But I was adamant. We now have live music twice a day Monday and Tuesday, three times Wednesday, three times Thursday, four or five Friday, four or five Saturday. We have acts on both floors.”

“There wasn’t an awful lot of women coming here. It was a bit of a back street boozer for the lads. When I did up the downstairs I wanted to make it more appealing. We added a range of gins.

“And we put on extra security. On my license, the requirement for security is six hours a week. Three hours between 11-2 on Friday night and three hours between 11-2 on Saturday night. We have security on seven nights a week. The idea is to make people feel safe and welcome. Wayne on the front door is our head of customer experience. He welcomes everybody. He is so friendly. All of a sudden people on socials were talking about how friendly the place is, and lots of ladies come here because they know they will be welcome and looked after.

“Downstairs we try to maintain the Irish feel without it being too diddly-diddly. Upstairs is for the younger ones - certainly not my vintage.”

He sums up the vibe as, “great Guinness, great service, great staff, great atmosphere.”

The Guinness might not be Temple Bar prices but it’s certainly more pricey than your local Spoons. But of course consistent quality comes at a premium.

“Ok it’s not cheap but look at what you are getting for it. You can go round the corner to other pubs, there will be no live music, there may not be security, not many staff and a lot don’t have sport. Yes the drinks are expensive but it’s the experience. We don’t force people to come in here. They queue around the corner that’s why we built upstairs.

He became a publican after working in accounts and audit.

“It was the most boring job ever,” he says.

“I came here and I spotted Mulligans. It was tired at the time. Two Irish guys were running it. They asked me to give them a hand. I did some work with them for six months then made them an offer.

“I thought if you were to run this pub even half right it would work. There was a lot of straightening out to do. The pub was very busy but they were selling the beer very cheap. Anyone can fill a pub with three pound pints. Try filling a pub on a Tuesday night and have them paying £7.70.

“I didn’t know an awful lot about pubs and I’ve had to learn a lot along the way. But if you are a willing student you can learn. After 12 years I’m still learning.”

Referring to the current popularity of the black stuff he takes it as “a warning sign”. Drawing a spiky graph with dramatic highs and lows, with his finger, Brady says, “I’d rather have a nice linear curves than a sharp spike in popularity.

“Guinness have done a great job. It was an old man’s drink and they have reinvented it. You see Kim Kardashian or Kate Middleton holding a pint now.”

And if the Guinness does ever run dry?

“I double down on the music and the service.

“If a recession comes and people spend less, my ethos is make sure they come here.

“If you have the capital to invest, invest it. Make people leave and say it was a great night.”

Over half the draught sold in Mulligans is Guinness. He also sells Murphy’s and at one point was selling Conor McGregor’s stout. “What I like about Guinness is, it’s super consistent. You buy it with your eyes. The settling, the cascading, it’s like a ceremony. It’s the optics. It’s like a car showroom, you want the car to look gleaming.”

Brady has invested close to £100,000 over the last three years in equipment to ensure the pub serves quality pints of stout, including a fully independent Guinness dispense system. Staff undergo dedicated 'Guinness inductions', and the pub serves over 13,000 pints of the stout a week.

All pubs of course get the same beer. Almost all Guinness sold globally is brewed at the storehouse that Arthur Guinness signed a 9000 year lease for in 1759.

“It’s what happens from the cellar to the pump,” he says.

“Clean lines are essential. Yeast is live. As soon as you start pouring the yeast is active. Most beers are served around 3 degrees. Guinness is served at 6 so it’s susceptible to it if you don’t keep your lines clean. There’s five or six things you have to do to get the basics right.”

His mantra is, “The biggest thing is consistency. A lot of businesses are consistently inconsistent.”

Minimum wage going up doesn’t affect Mulligans, he says. “We pay our staff more because they deserve it. The starting rate for us is £13.50. If you are 18-21 they still start on £13.50. Then they work their way up.

“I could give people a cheaper pint by paying people less, by putting on less music, by only having two security on, by having less staff on.”

“Before I was here Mulligans had started to be an institution and I have tried to build on that. Think of O'Donoghue's and Doheny & Nesbitt [iconic Dublin pubs] they are institutions. That’s what I am trying to achieve here.”

Brady has one business partner behind the scenes. After some light digging I discover it’s property investor Morgan Leahy, also the business partner of Barber Barber founder Johnny ‘BaBa’ Shanahan, the Limerick native who is one of Insider’s 42 under 42.

After the Guinness Guru awarded Mulligans a 9.2 out of 10 for its Guinness, it has now been listed in the Harp Guide.

The Harp Guide is a roundup of British pubs that stand out above the rest in five categories: quality pours, welcoming atmosphere, strong community, great service, and a genuine love of Guinness. The brand says it created the guide to spotlight the pubs that represent the best of British pub culture.

“They have decided a bit like the Good Food Guide or Michelin Star, Guinness is doing an annual guide where they pick the best 35 pubs in Britain,” says Brady.

Other North West pubs listed are Kennedy’s, Didsbury; The Station, Didsbury; Pogue Mahone, Liverpool; The Monro, Liverpool and Shenanigans, Liverpool.

Mulligans is now also selling merchandise. And let’s face it, not many pubs in Manchester could get away with that. There probably aren’t people clamouring for a Lower Turk’s Head beanie.

The new range comes in response to long-standing demand from customers, many of whom have been asking to get their hands on official Mulligans merch for years. The collection includes the same lightweight, clean-cut polo shirts worn by the Mulligans team - a firm favourite among regulars who’ve been requesting them since the early days.

Brady says: “We’ve had people asking for Mulligans merch for as long as I can remember.

“The pub means a lot to people - locals, tourists, regulars, football fans - and it felt like the right time to give them something they can take home. We’re proud of what Mulligans stands for, and now people can wear that pride too.”

The line-up includes a beanie, hoodie, polo shirt, t-shirt, tote bag, and zip-up jacket, all in classic black and finished with the pub’s distinctive gold logo.

As new Irish bars open in the city, he insists he is “focussed on what we are doing in these four walls” adding, “ it doesn’t matter what the rest are doing. Good luck to them.”

Does Mulligan’s plan to offer food?

“Guinness and Tayto, that’s it.

“There is no space. Food gets in the way. All around us are really good restaurants who can do food better than I could.”

And this is perhaps the biggest lesson. Stick to what you do best.

Or as Brady puts it, “Fish where the fish are and stay close to the pond.”