Melbourne Trip Part 1: Beechworth

Hey everyone, a quick post about the first day of our road trip, with a post about the second soon to follow.

Up early on Monday morning, over to Mello's place for a quick coffee, then headed out of Sydney via Maccas (Every road trip needs a sneaky McMuffin). Headed out down the M3 and M5, onto the Hume highway. Powered through the first part of the drive until a bit after midday, when we stopped in Gundagai for a pie

Mmm Pies

After that, we took a straight shot down to Beechworth, the town where Ned Kelly was incarcerated after his last stand, just down the road at Glenrowan. But we weren't there for the heritage; we were there to visit Bridge Road Brewing Co., the first scheduled stop on the roadtrip.

Pictured: The Beechworth Courthouse... I forgot to take a photo of the brewery

After a short wander around the town, we found a little alleyway leading down to the Brewery proper. As we walked in the door, the first thing we noticed was how busy it was. This place was packed... And it was 3pm on a Monday!? Over to the bar, where they had 10 of their beers on normal taps, as well as their seasonal collaboration on a hand pump. 

We decided to opt for tasting paddles, Mello taking the full 10 while I as the designated driver ran with 4.

So many Beers, so little time!

All of their beers were ace, as expected. Tasting notes for all of the above can be found in the album Here. We also managed to grab a taster of their hand pump beer, the Aurora Borealis, a Barrel-aged Quadrupel clocking in at a whopping 15% ABV. Rich and thick, it was like drinking a fortified wine, and would have paired amazingly with a cheese platter or desert of some kind. 

We picked up a mixed 6pack each, making sure to cover almost every beer they had in stock, before heading out into the state forest in an attempt to make camp. We found a nice, cleared campsite and considered setting up camp...

Click to see a Photoshere!

However... after intense deliberations, and the discovery of a bunch of spent shotgun shells just casually lying around in the dirt, we decided to bail from said national forest, and make the final leg of our drive into Melbourne.

Arriving late at night, we dragged our luggage upstairs, had a couple of our previously acquired beers, and crashed for the night.

Next up: Tuesday shenenigans!