Mountain Culture Beer Co has gone from a start-up to Australia’s number one brewpub and brewery in just 16 months.

The brewery, based in Katoomba, NSW, has received more than 22,000 ratings on Untappd (a geosocial networking service with more than nine million users globally), pushing it into the top spot with a score of 4.05 out of 5, the highest in Australia.

Be Kind Rewind, the brewery’s double dry hopped IPA, is currently the number one beer in Australia across all categories and styles of beer, with a score of 4.39 out of 5. It’s joined by five other Mountain Culture beers sitting at number one in their category.

It follows Mountain Culture nabbing the No.10 spot in the world for Best New Brewer in the ratebeer.com global Best Awards for 2020. It was the only brewery in the Southern Hemisphere to make it onto the list.

Ratebeer.com said: “Our new brewer awards are among the most coveted of RateBeer Best. These awards often recognize breweries that go on to join the world’s elite craft brewers, and that enjoy continued great success. The…group of only ten reflects a very elite selection from a very good field.”

“We are so stoked with these results,” said founder and head brewer, DJ McCready (pictured above with wife Harriet). “It’s great to see that what we’re brewing is really resonating with people and they’re really enjoying our beers.”

The couple embarked on transforming the dilapidated original premises for ‘The Echo’ newspaper into the first brewpub in the Blue Mountains four years ago.

After 18 long months of careful renovation, the couple started welcoming people from near and far to visit and have a beer.

In addition to its core range, available all year, Mountain Culture releases at least one new limited edition beer every Thursday, which has seen Thursdays grow to become one of busiest days at the Katoomba brewpub.

“The real beer nerds, our die hard fans who live say, in Sydney and can come up for the night, and of course the locals have come to learn that Thursday means new beer day,” DJ said.

“So now that’s gone from being a pretty quiet trading day for us to one of our busiest. Often, people are grabbing a can as it comes off the canning line because they know it’ll sell out by the end of the weekend.”

Weekends are also hugely popular at the brewpub for those travelling intrastate and interstate keen to finally taste the beer at the source.

It’s been a boost for the brewery, which was on the brink of closing down due to issues created by lockdowns and restrictions last year.

“We seem to have a real following in the South Coast and also Newcastle so we get big groups of guys and families coming in telling us about how the planned a trip to the Blue Mountains especially to come and see it,” DJ said.

“We are so appreciative of this because there was a dark period there where we thought we would have to shut down permanently. Instead, people’s love for the beer has meant our venue is busier than ever and we feel really hopeful and positive about the future.”