The Great Aussie Beer Shed & Heritage Museum is located about a 10 minute drive out of Echuca, Victoria. We were on our way to Koondrook for the long weekend and to break up the journey we decided to check out the famous “Great Aussie Beer Shed”.
We had driven from Melbourne to Echuca and stopped at the Beechworth Bakery (in Echuca) for lunch. Dave had a Ned Kelly meat pie ( meat pie on the bottom and like a quiche on top ) and I had a Mediterranean foccacia. Both were yummy and warming on what was a yucky cold day.
It was raining when we arrived but this was not a problem. We were greeted by the owner Neil who shook our hands and made us feel welcome. He explained the tour costs which included a drink if you wanted. We still had some driving to do so just opted for the tour with no drinks.
We were then invited to look around the farm equipment with umbrellas outside while we waited for the next tour to start. We then went back inside where there were old horse and cart carriages and a shed full of memorabilia.
Great for kids
When there were a few more families ready to go Neil got us to sit down for a bit of a talk in the main shed. Kids in the front row were invited up to help with the discussion. They all enjoyed being involved and joining in. Neil talked about the petrol pumps, a butter churner, an old safe from Flemington, pokie machines, and war memorabilia.
It really was an enjoyable, entertaining and educational way to spend a couple of hours. We felt we were very lucky to have caught Neil for his last tour of the day before he was on his way to Melbourne for the AFL grand final to go and see his team the Bulldogs play the Sydney swans. Even with a footy match there was a historical connection with Neil’s father playing in the last Grand final that the bulldogs played in! ( the bulldogs won – so I am sure Neil would have been very happy!)