Moorhouse's is an independent
brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...
founded in 1865,
by William Moorhouse in
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, England, as a producer of
mineral water
Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases.
T ...
s and
low-alcohol beer
Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol content and aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating (or at least reducing) the inebriating effects of standard alcoholic brews. Most low-alcohol beers are lagers, but there are some ...
s known as hop bitters. It first produced cask ales in 1978.
Products
The brewery produces
cask ale and
filtered beer
Filtered beer refers to any ale, lager, or fermented malt beverage in which the sediment left over from the brewing process has been removed. Ancient techniques included the use of straw mats, cloth, or straws, and frequently left some sediment i ...
in bottles.
History
The business was founded in 1865 by William Moorhouse as a producer of mineral waters. The business was successful and by 1870 Moorhouse had a purpose built building erected in Moorhouse Street off Accrington Road, Burnley which incorporated stables for the delivery horses and houses for the workers and Moorhouse family. William's sons took over the business and early in the 20th century began making low alcohol hop
bitters
Bitters (plural also ''bitters'') is traditionally an alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter for a bitter or bittersweet flavor. Originally, numerous longstanding brands of bitters were developed as patent medicines, but now ar ...
which were exported throughout the world, notably United States and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
.
In the 1930s the mineral water production was sold to
Thwaites Brewery
Thwaites Brewery is a regional brewery founded in 1807 by Daniel Thwaites in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and now located near Mellor in the Ribble Valley. Part of the company's beer business was sold to Marston's in March 2015, and the ...
.
In 1978 Michael Ryan, a local builder, bought the premises and equipment from Tom Fawcett, the cousin of the last surviving Moorhouse family member, Ben Moorhouse. Ryan turned the soft drinks company into a cask ale brewery. The first cask ale produced was Premier Bitter.
The brewery struggled during its first four years, changing owners several times before being taken over in 1982 by Alan Hutchinson, a local hotel owner, who introduced the successful Pendle Witches Brew brand. After Hutchinson died in 1985 the brewing side of the business was about to be closed down when William Parkinson, a businessman who was born in Burnley, tried the last batch of Pendle Witches Brew and decided to buy the brewery, investing £500,000 in new equipment, a distribution depot, and buying six pubs.
Beers
Moorhouse's has a range of award-winning cask ales, new craft beers and innovation small batch brews from their pilot kit, all created in the brewhouse, in the shadow of Pendle Hill.
Core beers
*Scaredy Cat 4.3%
*White Witch 3.9%
*Black Cat
Mild 3.4%
* Blonde Witch 4.4%
* Pendle Witches Brew 5.1%
* Premier
Bitter
Bitter may refer to:
Common uses
* Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience
* Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes
Books
* '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...
3.7%
* Pride of Pendle 4.1%
Bespoke beers
* Broomstick Bitter
* Witches Cauldron
* Witchfinder General
* Straw Dog
Craft beers
* Malkin 4.1%
* Sabbath Flight 5.0%
* Scaredy Cat 4.3%
Bottles
* Scaredy Cat 4.1%
* Blonde Witch 4.4%
* White Witch 3.9%
* Pendle Witches Brew 4.88%
Distribution
The cask ales are available in the company's 2 pubs, as guests in pubs, bars and restaurants throughout Britain and at British
beer festival
A beer festival is an event at which a variety of beers are available for purchase. There may be a theme, for instance beers from a particular area, or a particular brewing style such as winter ales.
Asia
* Singapore holds an annual Beer Festiva ...
s. The British supermarkets Morrisons, Tesco, Booths, ALDI, Lidl, Spar and B&M bargains regularly stock the bottled beers.
References
External links
*
RateBeerPub Reviews
{{Borough of Burnley buildings
Buildings and structures in Burnley
1865 establishments in England
Companies based in Burnley
Breweries in England
British companies established in 1865
Food and drink companies established in 1865