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 b ...

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 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, 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. It is usually still, but may be sparkling ( carbonated/ effervescent). Traditionally, mineral waters were used or consumed at t ...

s and

low-alcohol beer Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol by volume that aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating or reducing the inebriating effect, carbohydrates, and calories of regular alcoholic brews. Low-alcohol beers can come in diff ...

s known as hop bitters. It first produced cask ales in 1978.

Products

The brewery produces

cask ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for ale that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous ca ...

and

filtered beer Filtered beer refers to any ale, lager, or fermentation, 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 so ...

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 A bitters (plural also ''bitters'') is traditionally an Alcoholic drink, alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter for a Bitterness (taste), bitter or bittersweet Flavoring, flavor. Originally, numerous longstanding brands of bitters ...

which were exported throughout the world, notably United States and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. In the 1930s the mineral water production was sold to

Thwaites Brewery Thwaites Brewery is a regional brewery established in 1807 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England by founder Daniel Thwaites. Now located near Mellor, Lancashire, Mellor in the Ribble Valley, part of the company was sold to Marston's in 2015, and th ...

. 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. Dan Casaru is the head brewer.

Beers

Core beers

* White Witch 3.9% * Blonde Witch 4.4% * Pendle Witches Brew 5.1% * Premier Bitter 3.7% * Pride of Pendle 4.1% * Ice Witch 4.3% * Straw Dog 4.2% * Black Cat Mild 3.4% * Moonbeam Session IPA 4,3% (Silver award at the International Brewing Awards 2024)

Bespoke beers

* Broomstick Bitter 4.0% * Witches Cauldron 4.2% * Witchfinder General 4.4%

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 China *Qingdao International Beer Fes ...

s. The British supermarkets Morrisons, Tesco, Booths, ALDI, Lidl, Spar and B&M bargains regularly stock the bottled beers.

References

External links

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RateBeer
* {{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