IT has been many decades since paddle steamers stopped at the banks of the Murray River by the Wilkadene Woolshed near Renmark, where they would load up with chaff by way of a chute from the shed down the cliff to the river.
In the past five years the boats have returned, but instead of chaff they are pulling up for a beer at one of the most innovative shed transformations in the Riverland region.
The Wilkadene Woolshed Brewery dream started in 2008, when Sarah Dowdell left her job as travel agent in Adelaide to join her partner Tom Freeman on the Wilkadene station where he had grown up.
Mr Freeman's parents bought the 155-year-old Wilkadene property in 1988, but the shearing shed had not been used since 1996. Mr Freeman and his partner decided it was about time the historic old building be put back to work.
When considering what it would be used for, a number of ideas were talked through.
"We discussed a number of options: wine bar, a restaurant," Mr Freeman said.
"Ultimately we decided a brewery would be most unique, and was a perfect fit for the feel of the old shed."
Ms Dowdell reckons there was one additional factor that pushed the brewery option over the line.
"Just the love of beer," she said.
"In our late teens we played around with home-brewing as a cheaper option, and then in our late 20s and early 30s we got into it a bit more seriously."
Craft beer was starting to take off when they left Adelaide, but was not up and going in the Riverland yet, so they saw an opportunity.
But the payoff was a long way yet: when Mr Freeman and his partner first started home-brewing in the shed, they had to run the 50 metres from the homestead with boiling kettles of water.
By mid-2008 they had a hot water service installed apart from a Brewmaster 1000-2E Microbrewery from Australian company Integrated Brewing Solutions.
With riverside property classed as crown land and the Environmental Protection Agency concerned about the impact on the waterway, not to mention the approvals and heritage regulations involved in doing up a century-old building, Ms Dowdell said there was plenty of paperwork before work could begin.
"We often thought it would have been easier to build a brand new structure, but wanted to use the beautiful old woolshed, 100 years old, and all the original native pine," she said.
* Full report in Stock Journal, October 23, 2014 issue.
