Sydney Craft Beer Week: Riverside's Block Party (Part II)

Riverside Brewing

Sydney Craft Beer Week just gets better and better. An awesome week where we get to try the great craft beers of Australia. On 24th October, Riverside Brewing over in North Parramatta hosted an event with Melbourne-based Rockwell & Sons, famous for their American-style food and a whole bunch more.

The "Riverside Brewing Block Party" was an extravaganza of top-notch hand-crafted beer from Riverside, a couple more of their seasonal beers and a food menu from Rockwell & Sons that would make you drown in your own drool. Unlike last year's Riverside event, this was a 'standing room only' gathering that had all the hallmarks of a festive party that your mates would throw.

Drinks card

 Aren't we all mates, though? Craft beer gatherings such as this typifies the genuinely friendly nature of craft beer lovers. As we were all "feeling the love", showing my entry ticket allowed me to receive this very sophisticated stamping card. The responsible service of alcohol was certainly in place, and rightly so.

Rockwell & Sons menu

It's imperative that Riverside do the right thing, considering some of their beers have been known to hit 9%. Yes, Othello's Curse was indeed a seasonal and is 9%, but it's one of the best Black IPA's in the country and is a very big beer.

Not so big was the menu stuck on Riverside's mash tun. Well, I say "big" in terms of size. You could have easily missed it, but had you have taken the opportunity to have a look you would have seen how huge the food being on offer was. Prepared by the awesome folk at Rockwell & Sons, it certainly brought a few tears to my eyes.

Beef Jerky

For starters, the "Ancho Spiced 88 Porter Beef Jerky" was an utter hit. I'm usually not a fan of beef jerky of any sort, so it was with some trepidation that I try one out. I'm so glad I have an easy going attitude in life, cause I took the plunge and began my delightful experience of this wonderfully prepared beef jerky. If you're a fan of the 88 Robust Porter, you'll definitely love this. A great combination.

Gribenes (RB)

Up next, "Gribenes with Buttered Onions and BBQ Salt". Oh. My. Goodness. I not only took seconds, but thirds and fourths.....and fifths. It had the texture and consistency of pork scratchings, but this was much, much better. Yet another wonderful bit of finger food that just kept on giving. Combining buttered onions with barbeque salt was, for me, a great addition.

Deviled eggs (RB)

The next dish coming out was my favourite; "Deviled Eggs with Lovage and Celery Salt". It was so simple, yet so deliciously awesome that I could have sat in a corner all by myself and carried on eating these by the bucket load. Extraordinarily refreshing and the perfect accompaniment with Riverside craft beer.

Interestingly, the beers flowed but they blended so well with the food that it didn't even occur to me to take any pictures of Riverside's beer that matched the food. Granted, this would have been a nice addition to this blog but reality dictates that after a few beers, fading light and a fading battery it just wasn't to be.

Double Patty Smash (RB)

Still, we can't forget about the food. Rockwell & Sons went above and beyond expectations. Their "Double Patty Smash with Kraft and Special Sauce on a Seeded Bun" was to die for. Forget about the Al Qaeda terrorists going to heaven and getting 41 virgins, this stuff right here will give you all of that and a whole lot more.

Speaking of virgins and Al Qaeda, what about the "Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Rockwell's Hot Sauce, Coleslaw", huh? Actually, virgins and Al Qaeda have no association with this chicken or their cooks, but I could not find a better transition. What I do know is that the chicken was actually to die for. I guess that's what those silly folk at Al Qaeda should be concentrating on; eating this delicious chicken.

Chicken (RB)

Really, I should probably have concentrated on eating all the food and taking more pictures. Courtesy of Riverside Brewing, most of the pictures you see here and captioned with "(RB)" were seen on the Riverside Brewing Facebook page. I spoke to Ben, Riverside's Sales Guru, and kindly asked permission to use these photos on this blog. He had no hesitation, so thank you to Ben.

So, where were we? Ah, yeah; virgins and Al Qaeda. Uh, maybe not. Regardless, every time I drink Riverside's beers I scream out how fantastic those beers are. Pair it up with Rockwell & Sons food on the night and I don't really need to die, go to heaven and get 41 virgins. The best night on planet Earth was at Riverside's Block Party serving awesome beer paired with phenomenal food during a magnificent SCBW event.

Until next time.....
dann