On Friday the 6th of October I visited the Block n Tackle Brewery and Cellar Door in Kincumber, New South Wales. It has been in operation for two and a half years, since April 2015. It started life with four owners but now that is down to two. Michael Pepper, or ‘Pep’ is the brewer, worker and main dogs body around the brewery. While Michelle, his wife takes care of tastings and runs the bar.
Pep has been brewing for 25 years and formalised it when he completed his Graduate Diploma in Brewing at Ballarat in 2005. It took the next ten years to raise capital and decide what to do. Fortunately for the people around Kincumber he opened Block and Tackle.
The brewery consists of a 500 litre Braumaster brewer with a fermentation capacity of 2400 litres. They have nine taps, which they run eight beers through and one cider.
The core range has expanded since opening and now includes a Golden Ale, a Pale Ale, an IPA, a US Amber, a Belgian Witbier and a Porter. They also have the cider and seasonal beers to fill up the taps.
Once a year they do a collaboration brew with 6 String Brewing for the Central Coast Craft Beer and Cider Festival, which is held at the Kincumber Pub.
They hold brewery tours or more correctly Guided Tastings at the brewery that consist of a tour through the brewery with each stage explained and then tastings of their selection of beers with an explanation of the beer.
This weekend they are stretched thin as Michelle will be at the Tailgate Craft Beer Festival in Erina, while Pep will be assisting Julie Goodwin, from MasterChef fame, with an Oktoberfest beer and food matching event.
The beers that I sampled were:
Waggy Wit, 4.8% abv, 15 IBU, this is a traditional Belgian Witbier that uses coriander seed, orange zest and Belgian yeast. It has a cloudy appearance and a yeasty wheat aroma. It has lovely wheat flavour with a spicy, mild bitter finish.
Korffs Lager, 5.8% abv, 21 IBU, this is an Oktoberfest style Lager with a golden colour and a subtle malt aroma. It has a nice biscuit malt flavour and then a gentle bitterness on a crisp finish.
Portside Pilsner, 5.4% abv, 35 IBU, this Pilsner has a golden colour and a subtle floral aroma. It has a clean, crisp taste and then a gentle bitterness from the Ella hops used.
Rock Lily, 5.4% abv, 44 IBU, this is an American style Pale Ale using Australian ingredients. It is the brewery’s biggest seller and has a hazy golden colour and a pine aroma. It has a good well balanced flavour of sweet malt and then transitions into a big, resinous hop finish. Very nice!
Jon Piper, 6.3% abv, 55 IBU, this is an American style IPA with a golden colour and a sweet citrus and summer fruit aroma. It has a lovely, strong, sweet fruity flavour and then a bitterness that lingers.
The Limey, 6.6% abv, 22 IBU, this is a dark Saison that utilises half a kilogram of cracked white pepper and half a kilogram of organic lime zest. It has a dark amber colour and a spicy Saison and lime aroma. The flavour is initially of citrus lime and then moves smoothly into a spicy Saison flavour that lingers.
Red Lizzie, 5.9% abv, 45 IBU, this is an American Amber Ale with a dark amber colour and gentle fruit hop aroma. It has a complex malt flavour of caramel, toffee and subtle chocolate and then transitions into a hoppy fruit bitter finish. Nice!
Sir Thomas Porter, 5.0% abv, 28 IBU, this has a dark amber colour and a roasted malt aroma. It has a smooth malt palate of chocolate and coffee.
Frost Anniversary Beer, 8.7% abv, this is an annually produced Russian Imperial Stout. It is black in colour with a dark creamy head and an aroma of roasted malt and fortified wine. It has a wonderful flavour of malt with strong hints of espresso and chocolate and then fruit cake flavours. This beer could be aged quite easily. Truly magnificent!!
The Block and Tackle Brewery is making some wonderful beers. They are true to their style while still maintaining individual character. I enjoyed them all!
I would really like to thank Pep for taking the time out from his busy brewery workload to talk with me and tell me about each of his beers. He has a true passion for producing great craft beer!
I strongly recommend dropping into the Block and Tackle Brewery and Cellar Door to try their beers for yourself.
