Supporting Moorhouses Brewery’s Growth with a Custom-Designed Boilerhouse

With a working relationship spanning over 20 years, McEwen Boilermakers has supported Moorhouses Brewery with the design, installation, and maintenance of its steam boiler systems. Having originally installed their existing steam boiler plant, we were approached once again when the brewery embarked on the construction of a new, larger brewhouse in Burnley.

Design and Planning

We began by liaising closely with the project architect to integrate mechanical and boilerhouse requirements into the new building’s layout. Using advanced CAD modelling, we translated architectural drawings into a precise plant layout, positioning key assets such as the boiler, hotwell, blowdown receiver, interconnecting pipework, and chimneys. In addition, we provided civil engineering drawings for concrete shuttering, drains, and pipework ducts, ensuring a well-coordinated and professional installation with a tidy and efficient plantroom design.

Equipment Specification and Manufacture

After completing the design phase, we specified a Byworth YSX2000 Steam Boiler, rated at 4,400 lbs/hr, and placed the manufacturing order with Byworth Boilers. Alongside this, we fabricated and supplied a full suite of ancillary equipment, including:

• Blowdown receiver
• Hotwell tank (fully lagged and clad for thermal efficiency)
• Condensate manifold
• Steam manifold
• Aluminium chimney

This turnkey solution provided the brewery with a robust, efficient, and future-ready steam generation system tailored to their operational demands.

Expansion and Modifications

As Moorhouses Brewery continued to grow, it introduced four additional brewing vessels, requiring a reconfiguration of the pipework network to support its expanded production capacity. We were commissioned to fabricate and install new pipework to integrate these vessels with the existing boiler system.

During the process, our engineers identified deteriorated trap sets beneath several of the new vessels, which were critical to steam system safety and efficiency. These components were replaced with modern, high-performance trap systems, further improving the reliability of the steam distribution network.

This project demonstrates our long-term commitment to clients and our ability to deliver comprehensive boilerhouse design, installation, and system upgrades that evolve alongside operational growth. The end result was a fully integrated, scalable, and efficient steam plant designed to meet the brewery’s needs well into the future.