RIDDELLS CREEK, Australia (CNN) -- A German immigrant nostalgic for his homeland has built a castle in the lush foothills of Australia -- surrounded by a wall made of some 3 million beer bottles.

"This is something different, isn't it?" says Joe Reissig of his house in Victoria state.

It took him three years to build the wall with bottles donated by friends and the local pub. Three times, the wall has saved Reissig's castle from Australia's notorious bush fires.

Inside his castle, Reissig has built his own bar, a tribute to the millions who drank to build his dream.