If you were asked to name the home of Australia’s first and largest online wine distributor – one with clients all over the world – chances are it would be some time before you suggested Diamond Creek, a suburb on Melbourne’s very outer edge. Yet it’s here that you’ll find Nillumbik Cellars, a bottleshop on a corner of the main street that’s been run by the same family for more than 30 years, and its impressive online operation. And it’s here that you’ll also find an excellent range of quality beer from all over the world.

The craft beer side of the business is relatively new, driven in the main by Michael Harris, a member of staff who embarked on his own journey into the wide world of beer a few years ago and has decided to share what he’s learnt with Nillumbik’s customers. He’s overseen an expansion in the store’s beer selection from a point not too long ago when a couple of British ales and Little Creatures Pale Ale was about as exotic as it got to one where the choice rivals that of the 2,500 wines lining its aisles. Today, mainstream Aussie beers are given just half a fridge to call home, while a couple of other fridges are crammed with Aussie microbrewery beers and another is stocked with new and out there imports. In all, there are around 450 beers and 50 ciders.

Aside from the excellent wine and beer selection, there’s also a wide range of spirits on offer, including scores of whiskies, and an onsite café and deli selling cheeses, meats, breads, chutneys, sweets and the like. You can even sample your purchases in the Vine Café (after paying a corkage charge) if you can’t wait until you get home. The café is also the site of Nillumbik Cellars' monthly Beer Clubs, at which Michael picks out a selection of new arrivals and beers that punters are unlikely to have come across before for a laidback spot of beer appreciation. Completing the package is a growler filling station, installed in October 2011, that offers punters the chance to take draught beer home.

If you want to keep up to date with beer comings and goings, Michael sends out a regular newsletter, which you can sign up to by emailing buybeersonline@gmail.com.