More Moorebeer: Brewer Buys Brewery

January 15, 2025, by Will Ziebell

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More Moorebeer: Brewer Buys Brewery

Late last year, Moorebeer Brewing was sold. However, for regulars at the Port Macquarie brewery, they probably wouldn't have noticed a change and already know the new owner well. 

That's because when the deal was sealed on December 23, it saw ownership pass from co-founder Brad Hodge and his family to Moorebeer's long-term brewer Mark Connors.

Mark told The Crafty Pint: “They came to me and said, ‘We want to give you first right of refusal before we even think of putting it on the market.’”

Mark, known as Big Moz to locals and many in the industry – and pictured above with a beer inspired by that nickname – joined Moorebeer in 2019, when he worked alongside co-founder Ryan Moore as a brewer until Ryan left the business to return to his teaching career. As a result, Brad's father-in-law, Paul Hawthorne, stepped in as an owner, while Mark continued to lead all things brewing.

Brad and his family first approached Mark close to a year ago, with Mark saying Brad was spread a little thin between the business and the cafe he also owns and operates. 

“Hodgey was just looking to simplify his life,” Mark says. “They offered it to me because they knew how much I love this brewery.

“They wanted me to be able to take it to the next level as Brad didn’t really have the time anymore to 100 percent concentrate on Moorebeer.”

 

Mark and Ryan Moore in the brewery when The Crafty Pint called in in 2019.

 

While Mark's attempts to secure loans with banks were a little tough given the spate of voluntary administrations and closures in the beer industry, ultimately he was successful. He says there was an understanding that many of those impacted businesses were larger brewers that had expanded during COVID, whereas his plan was to keep Moorebeer a small, locally-focused community brewery.

Indeed, small-scale has long been the focus for Moorebeer: the brewhouse is a 600-litre system upon which Mark brews double batches to fill his fermenters.

“I've got all the brewery equipment I need right here and I want to drive the taproom more,” he says.

“We only really supply from Newcastle to Coffs Harbour with cans, and we're super local with kegs where we mostly just sell to the Mid North Coast in restaurants and bowling clubs. 

“I’m not looking at expanding with packaged, we’ve got a good base and we’re not looking to take over the world or anything. I want to keep it small and sustainable.”

 

One of Moorebeer's colourful limited releases; their Big Poppa NEIPA and its many spinoffs always excite the brewery's fans. 

 

He says that the sizeable coastal city has plenty of customers who are still finding out about Moorebeer and craft more widely, with Black Duck the only other brewery in Port Mac following the closure of Wicked Elf (formerly The Little Brewing Co) a couple of years ago.  

Having only taken over the keys a couple of days before Christmas, Moorebeer's first major event of 2025 drove home how many more locals they still had to win over. 

“We just had a massive barbecue event on the weekend where our mayor was there; he’s a pitmaster,” Mark says.

"It was one of our biggest days ever – a really busy Saturday – and there were a lot of people here who had never been to the brewery before. You can live in a bubble, there’s still so many locals who can find out about us.”

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