Moorhouse's Brewery

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Moorhouse's Brewery, 4 Moorhouse Street, Accrington Road, Burnley, Lancashire.

The Moorhouse family have been involved in brewing since 1865, producing hop bitters concentrate for drinks. Started brewing real ale in 1979. Bought by the Hutchinson Leisure Group 1981 and was resold to Apollo Leisure 1984.

Acquired by Bill Parkinson 1985 and is still brewing.

New brewhouse opened 2010.


MOORHOUSE’S BREWERY by Roy Hartley

Up to recently you could have passed by Moorhouse’s brewery and not noticed it, looking as it did like a terraced street, set back off the main road, for that is basically what it was. The brewery’s small frontage was squeezed between the terraced houses in a street by the name of Moorhouse Street. The brewery lies on the outer edge of Burnley within sight of Pendle Hill, famous more for it’s witches than it’s beer. But due to increasing demand for their beers, the brewery had to expand.

A brand new building was added in 1995 across the front of the original brewery, housing extra fermentation tanks. Also planned was a bottling plant for eventual inclusion into the new building, though I doubt that will now take place, as I think it would be too expensive with the current trend in the bottling world. Also in this new building is a new racking plant and garaging facilities. It is planned to add more fermentation vessels in the old racking room.

Moorhouse’s was founded in the current premises in 1865 by William Moorhouse, who started brewing hop bitters for the soft drinks industry. It was in 1977, under new ownership that the company started brewing beer. Things didn’t go to well, beer consistency wasn’t very good, and the brewery passed through a succession of owners. In 1981 the company was sold to the Hutchinson Leisure Group, a Burnley based firm of hotel and cinema owners, who sold the beer in their hotels.

Around 1982 Max Taylor joined the company as sales manager, and a decision was made to sell into other outlets. Max had been in the brewery trade for many years, working for such companies as, Duttons, Matthew Brown and Thwaites. The decision had been taken to sell the beers and Max took to the road. It soon emerged that the beers were highly sought after in the south and particularly in London.

In 1985 Bill Parkinson took over the brewery, and from this point on trade increased rapidly, new brew plant was installed in 1988, and by 1991 new fermenting vessels had to be installed to keep up with demand.

From owning just the one pub, The General Scarlet, which lies across the road from the brewery, the company now owns six pubs and are on the look out for more. They supply to more than two hundred free trade outlets throughout the country and also to many beer festivals.

The Black Cat mild is a regular prize winner at beer festivals and has made the finals at the CAMRA Beer of Britain awards, as has The Pendle Witches Brew.


SHORT AND SKETCHY HISTORY OF MOORHOUSE'S by Barrie Pepper

Prepared for a joint meeting of the Brewery History Society and the British Guild of Beer Writers on Saturday 19th December, 1992

William Moorhouse started as a mineral water manufacturer at a factory in Accrington Road, Burnley in 1865. The move across to the present premises came five years later when the adjoining houses and stables for the dray horses were built. As was the fashion in those days the builder or owner would name the street; hence Moorhouse Street.

It was here that the brewing of hop bitters began. They were made from hops, brewing sugar, herbs and malt although now malt extract is used. The original gravity was quite high but the fermenting process was kept quite short so as to keep the alcohol level low enough to avoid duty.

The bitters are brewed to this day and used by mineral water companies to produce shandy and similar drinks. Originally there were three types:- Old Kent, similar to a mild; Old Peter, a stout style; and Old Boss a bitter which won awards for quality in 1896 and 1899 at the National Exhibition Market for Brewing and Allied Trades in London. Old Kent took a similar award in 1908.

When William Moorhouse died his son Thomas took over but in 1904 he received a serious injury from an exploding bottle from which he never fully recovered. His brother William then ran the business for some years, a period in which quite a degree of development took place. The bitters were exported to many parts of the world - to India and the West Indies - and there were accounts all over Britain. The mineral water side of the business was, sold to Daniel Thwaites, the Blackburn based brewers sometime between the wars.

Thomas's widow took over the business after William retired for none of her eight children were old enough to run it. But later one of the sons, Edward Moorhouse, who had lost a leg in the Second World War, ran it successfully for many years. In 1945 Tom Fawcett the nephew of Edward and great grandson of the founder joined the company and worked there until it was sold. He still lives in Moorhouse Street.

In 1985 Mr Fawcett reminisced on his work with the family firm. His job, he said, involved brewing the hop bitters and then selling them. He also had to stoke the boilers and repair the equipment.

1977 marked the most important event in the Company's history when it was sold out of the family and traditional beers were brewed for the first time. At first things did not go too well until the appointment of Max Taylor as Sales Manager and Richard Winkle as brewer in 1982. This marked a turn around in the firm's fortunes. Both had valuable experience in the business with other companies. Trade expanded and the beers were selling well particularly outside the immediate area of the brewery. In Burnley most pubs were tied to the larger brewers and at that time could not sell guest beers.

In 1983 Premier Bitter won a silver medal in the international brewing exhibition held in Birmingham. It took second place in the cask conditioned bitter section out of a total entry of 127. And drinkers at the Merseyside CAMRA Beer Festival voted Pendle Witches Brew as their Beer of the Festival.

In 1985 the present owner Bill Parkinson, an Atherton businessman, bought Moorhouse's brewery for the bargain price of œ150,000. He had drunk the bitter in the Eagle and Child at Wharles near Preston, enjoyed it, found out that the brewery was up for sale and within a week had bought it.

Malcolm Macdonald was brought in as General Manager with the experience of running five pubs and a family background in the business. In the first year of the new management Pendle Witches Brew was runner-up in its class in the CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain awards.

Two years later in 1987 the company opened its first pub; the General Scarlett which stands opposite the brewery and was previously a bookmaker's shop. The licence came after a fierce battle in the courts with the local LVA. In the winter of that year Owd Ale, a 1065 gravity winter ale was brewed for the first time. Its quality is maintained by restricting production to only four brews each year.

A new purpose-built brewing plant came into commission shortly afterwards with the full pomp of an official opening by the Mayor of Burnley. This period saw also Black Cat Mild brought into the firm's portfolio. In 1991 more fermenting vessels were bought to cope with increased demand for the firm's beers.

There have been many other awards from beer festivals in all parts of the country and in 1990 the Good Beer Guide named Pendle Witches Brew as one of Britain's top 50 beers. Then in 1992 it was silver medal time again when Premier Bitter again took second place amongst 200 beers nationwide at Brewex, an international competition, held at Burton-upon-Trent.

Moorhouse's now have five tied houses; one in Bury and four in Burnley. The Dusty Miller in Bury and the General Scarlett are both in the Good Beer Guide.


The brewery, November 2010: