Being born in Sydney, raised in Shepparton (200kms north of Melbourne), and having travelled to a lot of parts of Australia with work over the past few years - I do have some impartiality when I say that I LOVE Melbourne.
I moved here for uni at 17 years of age, and haven't left (now 34).
The cold winters are the only negative, but I rate Melbourne as Australia's most vibrant city (no offence to the other cities, many of which I really like too).
It is a city though… it can be busy, hectic, impersonal, dirty, and apparently dangerous, and you'll get a very different experience in different parts of the city and suburbs (same as all cities or big towns).
And as far as craft beer goes, I think we're up there (for Australia). The fact that we host Good Beer Week is testament to this.