THE owner of Moorhouses brewery in Burnley is toasting his succcess - with a special ale named in his honour.

To celebrate Bill Parkinson’s 70th birthday, the brewery has brought out a special ale — Chief Beer Taster, which is the title he now uses on his business card.

He said: “It was a big surprise to find my face on a pump clip for the draught ale and on the bottles of beer as well. It’s gone down very well. I came in to try some and they had sold the lot.

“I did buy the brewery because I liked the beer, but I have stayed with the company long term and seen it really develop and expand over the years.”

In its darker days in 1985, the brewery nearly closed, but when entrepreneur Mr Parkinson found out over a pint, he stepped in to buy it “because I liked the beer”.

He bought the dilapidated brewery less than a week after first hearing it had been put up for sale following the death of its owner.

Although he had no experience in the industry he said he went to look at the brewery, saw he could grow the business and “bought it on an absolute whim”.

A £500,000 investment followed, with a new brew plant installed in 1988 and the new warehouse depot in 1995.

Now, despite the recession, the 145-year-old Moorhouse’s is on the brink of a major expansion which will treble production capacity with a new brewery.

The Burnley-based brewery is bucking the recession with the construction of an ambitious £4.2 million brewing complex, training school and visitors’ centre.

Now, under his stewardship and that of the managing director David Grant, the company has grown into the North West’s leading small brewery with a turnover of £3.2 million last year — up from £1.4 million in 2001.

Over the years Moorhouse’s beers picked up many major brewing awards — more than any other brewer of comparable size — and began the 21st century with its Black Cat ale crowned the Supreme Champion Beer of Britain 2000 by Camra (Campaign for Real Ale).

Having fought against the brewery tie for years, now Moorhouse’s beer is available throughout the country and the company has six of its own pubs, including the popular Pendle Witch pub in Atherton, which is Mr Parkinson’s local, where he plays on the pool team.