In a time when beer news feeds are full of stories of breweries going into voluntary administration or closing altogether, it is always good to see new brewer having a crack. Grumpy Mo Brewery hit the socials and launched their first beer in December 2023. Back of the Ferry took a four pack of their launch beer for spin on Sydney Harbour and can report there’s nothing to be grumpy about.
The unusual name of the brewery is inspired by the nicknames of two influential people in the life of the brewery’s founder and has nothing to do with facial hair. That said, the Mo part of the name forms part of the brewery’s branding (like it) and is literally the name of their first beer.
The styles of beer that went gangbusters last year in terms of numbers of new beers were low carb, cerveza and Japanese lagers. Grumpy Mo’s launch beer is a Japanese lager brewed with rice. The name Kuchihige means moustache (kuchi – mouth, hige – beard) in Japanese. Member #100, our resident Japanese linguist, also reckons they’ve nailed the Japanese characters as well. For mine they’ve also nailed the beer. It is crisp and clean with some hints of summer fruits. A cracker for summer.
Grumpy Mo beers are currently available in a selection of bottle shops and their Insta feed lets you know which ones. There’s plans to open a taproom in the future somewhere on Sydney’s Lower North Shore. In the meantime, they plan to expand their range of offerings and they’ll be hitting the shelves in February. Good work Grumpy Mo and good luck. Look forward to following your adventure.
back of the ferry 