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Conor McGregor agrees to buy Porterhouse Brewery in Dublin

Conor McGregor

Sean Pollock

MMA fighter Conor McGregor has agreed to buy the Porterhouse Brewery in Dublin, where one of his company’s currently brews his Forged Irish Stout brand, Independent.ie understands.

According to sources, staff at the Porterhouse were told about the deal last week, which is subject to completing all legal requirements. The deal agreed between Porterhouse and McGregor for the brewery does not include any of its bars.

Independent.ie understands that the Porterhouse craft beer brand will continue to be brewed at the facility under contract.

The brewery currently has planning permission for a visitor centre, opening the possibility for McGregor to open a brand home at the Dublin site.

Forged Irish Stout was first brewed in late 2020 and for the last number of years has been available exclusively in McGregor’s The Black Forge pub in Crumlin, Co Dublin. An online store for the Forged brand has also appeared in recent months.

According to an announcement from UK-based press relations agency Radioactive, McGregor has “scaled production through the purchase of his own brewery”.

The announcement by Radioactive said McGregor is set to take on the stout category on both sides of the Irish Sea. He is planning a “major launch” for later this year in the UK, Ireland and North America. It added that the Forged Irish Stout would be available in British supermarket ASDA across the UK in June.

Cousins Liam LaHart and the late Oliver Hughes founded the Porterhouse Brewing Company in 1989, when they bought the first of their pubs on Bray seafront.

In 1996, the pair opened Dublin’s first brewpub, bringing on Peter Mosley as the head-brewer. Four years later, Porterhouse moved to a new sixty-barrel brewery in Blanchardstown, Co Dublin.

The company opened its current brewery in early 2018 in response to demand for its Porterhouse craft beer brand. The 120-barrel brewing facility is just off the Ballyboggan road in Glasnevin, Dublin 11.

The Forged Irish Stout brand has been brewed by Porterhouse under contract.

The move into the world of stout, which is dominated by Guinness, is not the first time McGregor has attempted to disrupt the alcohol sector.

In September 2018, McGregor’s Eire Born Spirits launched Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey. The brand claimed to have sold 200,000 cases in its first six months on the market.

In 2021, McGregor sold a majority stake in Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey to Proximo Spirits in a deal reportedly worth up to $600m. Proximo, which also owns Jose Cuervo tequila and Bushmills whiskey, already had a 49pc stake in Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey.

At the time of writing, a representative for Forged Irish Stout had not responded to a request for comment.

Porterhouse declined to comment.