MOVA Brewing Company from Ukraine enters the Dutch market.
MOVA Brewing Co. is a Ukrainian brewery from Dnipro, who see beer as the perfect means of communication. “MOVA” stands for “language” in Ukrainian, and that meaning transcends their product far beyond one or two languages. Through the process of brewing connections, they have created exceptional beer, making every beer a story, a conversation, and a shared moment of joy.
The beginning
The story begins in 2017 when three men shared an interest in organizing a beer festival in Dnipro. That year, the first Craft Culture Festival took place, which has since become an annual charity event.
It inspired them to create their own beer with the aim of reviving the beer culture of a city. Later that year, MOVA was born with Winter ESB and since then things have been accelerating. Now MOVA has its own facility capable of producing 150,000 liters/month, and production is only expanding.
Growth and development
Despite the current challenges and difficulties, the team continues to grow and introduce new product lines and side projects. Examples include lemonades with Ukrainian children’s drawings on the label, the BEER SPACE restaurant and a few MOVA BARs spread across the city.
With the help of local experts, they created the Museum of Brewing in Dnipro, published a “History of Brewing in Dnipro” book, and revived the ‘Beer of City Dnipro’. The taste of the latter was chosen by anonymous voting among residents and guests of the city, so you can say with certainty – it is the taste of Dnipro. In addition to Craft Culture, MOVA organizes other themed festivals and sporting events. Each of these events benefits a good cause.
MOVA’s motto
MOVA’s motto is sincerity. Starting with the glass walls of a brewery and ending with the interaction between partners and customers. They export beer to Norway, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, and the team doesn’t stop there… MOVA pushes its boundaries and tries to prove that beer with a Ukrainian spirit can earn its own place on the world beer map, while building relationships between people from different countries.
Awards and collaborations
In 2019, Stout I and Hercules Porter took home gold and silver respectively at the Hop Cup Ukraine. The first international awards came for Stout Vanilla at the East European Beer Award 2020 and Barcelona Beer Challenge 2020 with bronze in both cases. In 2023, they brewed Side By Side IPA as a collab with friends from the US (Stone Brewing), who support war victims in Ukraine. Then MOVA joined forces with British Azvex Brewing Co. in Eurovision’s “Beer Together” project and brewed IPA Magic Stick for Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool. The same year, MOVA’s Dark Non-alcoholic beer won Gold in Europe’s oldest beer competition – European Beer Star.
Taste the variety
You can taste a lot of different beer styles from this brewery: Lager, Oatmeal Stout and Vanilla Stout, IPA, Blanche, Pilsner, Amber Ale, Beer of City Dnipro and more. And the team continues to create collaborative craft beers in Ukraine and worldwide.
Availability
MOVA Brewing Company’s beers will be available to taste during the Ukrainian Lucht Festival in Amsterdam in August. In the spring of 2025, the brewery hopes to be more widely available in the Netherlands in collaboration with Brabant Brew Imports.
This is not the first time that beer from Ukraine has entered the Dutch market. In 2022, Chernigivske (part of AB InBev) was launched in several countries to raise money for humanitari