Block n Tackle 1st Anniversary

 

Our first encounter with the Block n Tackle brewery was at the Central Coast Beer & Cider Festival where their Imperial Russian Stout was arguably the most delicious stout at the event, and was also the most alcoholic. So when we heard they were combining several of their most popular beers with food, we quickly snapped up tickets.

Their ‘Brew-Do’ was a celebration of their first anniversary as a brewery, located on-site in Kincumber on the Central Coast. They partnered with Jasmine Greens Kiosk to supply dishes which either aimed to compliment or contrast Block n Tackle's brews.
One additional point to the Brew-Do was that the event was sponsoring a local charity, Central Coast Kids in Need, who over the past two decades have been providing accommodation support to Coastie families while their children are in hospital.


On arrival, revellers were introduced to the four Block n Tackle owners and given a brief explanation of the event. They also provided us with the evenings tasting menu, which we, appropriately, elected to read over a beer. The first beers we tried were the Ship Wrights English Bitter and the Rock Lily Pale Ale.

In our excitement to try our first beers of the night, we forgot to take photos of them. The Ship Wrights English bitter was a deep golden colouring with a bitter edge. Lachlan loves bitter style beers, and found the bitterness in this brew to be nicely balanced by hints of caramel in the finish.

The Rock Lily Pale Ale had a foamy head with a cloudy Amber colour. Mango fragrance translated to the palate strongly, and was the key characteristic on the palate for Jay.

Following our first drinks, the event team started to distribute the beer and food pairings.

Salt & Pepper Calamari with Harissa Aioli paired with Waggy Wit Witbier.

It's great to have seafood on a Coastie menu. The calamari was fresh and zesty - a testament to the quality of seafood around the local area. The aioli had some lemon notes which complemented the calamari well, but definitely needed more harissa as its overall taste was a bit bland. 

The rounded spice from the harissa would have been an excellent complement to the wheat beer, though overall we found the pairing really enjoyable. The Waggy Wit Witbier was straw coloured, bordering on the point of transparency. It had a velvety sensation with some orange zest that worked well with the calamari. We'd consider it a refreshing, summer day-drinking beer.

Homemade Mini Sausage Rolls with Homemade Tomato Chutney paired with Rock Lily Pale Ale
These sausage rolls were simply beautiful. The pastry was buttery, crispy and full of flavour. The beef was premium quality and cooked with care and was further complimented by the chutney, which was a nice accompaniment. It was definitely worth the extra effort than just generic tomato sauce.

Unlike the first pairing which was strongly complimentary, we found this paring a bit disruptive with no immediate connection. We had already familiarised ourselves with the Rock Lily Pale Ale at the start of the evening. Its noticeable mango notes didn't really find a home with the sausage roll and chutney. We really enjoyed both elements in isolation of each other but weren't sold on the pairing.



Black Pudding & Lemon Pickled Cabbage Mini Slider paired with Red Lizzie American Amber Ale

This slider was very fragrant thanks to the black pudding and pickled cabbage, and we were fond of the crunch. It was a shame the sliders were a little on the cold side when served, though we fully appreciate the difficulty in keeping the temperature up on small portions when serving a room full of people. Despite the temperature challenge the slider was really tasty and a great follow up to the previous tasting. The beef patty was of similar quality to the beef mince from the sausage roll. Also, who doesn't love a burger with their beer? The Red Lizzie American Amber had a maple colouring with caramel notes on the nose. Burnt toffee revealed itself on the palate with a slightly bitter finish. A real stand out brew of the evening, it was a great compliment to the slider as it cut through the lingering pickle flavour.



Chocolate Mousse paired with Frost Russian Imperial Stout
The Frost Russian Imperial Stout was dark and thick. It had a real chocolate feel and taste with a bitter follow through. The chocolate mousse worked really well with this beer, and was the best pairing of the night in our opinion. One of the brewers suggested to take a bite of the mousse and to immediately sip the stout whilst the mousse was still in your mouth. This little tip tasted amazing, so we continued to enjoy the mousse in this fashion.

We finished our dessert feeling very satisfied and full from all our tastings. However the evening didn't stop there. The Block n Tackle owners had one last surprise for us: a final 'mystery beer' as a digestive of sorts. We detected tropical notes from this beer which leaned towards the sweet side. We checked the brewery's info sheet on their brews and suspect it was their Rip Bridge Golden Ale. A great beer to close the night on.



We had a really enjoyable evening at Block n Tackles Brew Do. Having food paired with their signature brews was a great way to experience them and as the event was onsite, we had the opportunity to learn more about the brewery as well.

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Written by Lachlan Munnings @mister_eats

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