Bowral Blacks mates, Cameron James and Ben Twomey, had a dream.
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A hops-filled dream to start a little brewery in the bush.
Little did they know their dream would become reality and the resulting ice cold beer would receive international acclaim.
The Sutton Forest based brewery received a bronze award for their Naked Harvest blonde ale at the London Beer Competition.
Breweries from 33 countries were put to the test with beers judged against three categories: quality, value and packaging.
The judging panel consisted of beer industry experts who took all three categories into account.
The longtime friends wanted to pay homage to the region when they founded the business in 2015.
"Our roots are steeped in the Southern Highlands and we wanted to show that through our beer," Ben said.
The duo settled on mascot, Hops the Roo, while they watched a mob of kangaroos and quenched a hard earned thirst.
Hops is complete with a tulip in his pocket and a kilt in honour of the Southern Highlands and the region's Scottish history.
In November 2017 the pair opened Southern Highlands Brewing and Taphouse.
The brasserie features eight local beers on tap and a selection of upmarket pub grub.
Barley and hops are grown at the brewery with recycled water and in turn the crops are fed to the cattle.
Barley-fed, Highlands grown beef may soon be on the menu at the taphouse as the boys aim to make their business as environmentally sustainable as possible.
More development is on the table as the brewery looks to export their product internationally.
"We have a very distinctive logo which would work well overseas," Ben said.
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