Well, after I got all of my procrastinating done, I managed to get down to Wellington in good time on Saturday. Not too worse for wear after a seven hour drive!
I arrived at a friends place, where I was going to be staying, a little before 5pm. We discussed our options for the evening. I had just driven half way down the country, and she had just finished a long day at work so we were feeling a little Nanna-ish to put it politely. So, we decided on dinner and a movie.
Our original plans had been to check out The Tasting Room, check out a selection of good beer and wine. When we arrived though, it was pretty packed, and there was nothing that really took our fancy… Nothing was really wrong with the place, but nothing was really right either …if that makes sense.
So the decision was made to go to this little hole in the wall Italian spot down the road, 
Nicolini’s. It was one of the tiniest restaurants that I have been in for a long time. Long and skinny, and packed full of as many little wooden tables and chairs as you could possibly fit in there, but cosy somehow, not cramped. The décor was cheesy, stereotypical “Italian”, bad paintings on the wall, candles in Italian wine bottles, mismatched chairs, “Italian” music (i.e. lots of Dean Martin). It was all so tragically cliché but it came together seamlessly. Paired with good service, and the most amazing Lamb Faggatini I’ve ever had! It was a winner! They had no real beer list to speak of (aside from the essentials), and I know this is supposed to be a “Beer Blog” but it was such an amazing little place, it just had to be mentioned!
Long story short, next time you are in Wellington, make sure to visit Nicolini’s! I’d say get in there early though, we watched quite a few people get turned away because they were just too busy (…understandably so!).
Oh, afterwards our movie was The Hunger Games, which I am not going to talk about at all, because you need to see it! Great movie! Really intense… I’ve found that most movies that have been talked up as much as this one has, generally fall a little flat for me …they can just never live up to the hype. But… I’ll say no more, just watch it!
Easter Sunday was billed as our Lazy Sunday, we stared with brunch at a local café in Eastborne, and progressed into a jug of Sangria and a few beers in the sun. Most of them were pretty run of the mill, a few of the good old Emersons Bookbinder, and Emersons Pilsner. Not to dismiss them at all, great beers in their own right, but more session beers when compared to the little surprise that was waiting for me in Wellington.
Even though it’s not the beer I wanted to write about, I needed to show you just how good this beer looked, on the deck, in the sun… *sigh* I wish I was back there right now…
My friend, possibly being one of the most awesome people in the world!!! (yes she deserves 3 exclamation marks!) Instead of getting me an easter egg, bought me a bottle of Liberty Brewing Never Go Back Imperial Oat Stout.
I was lost for words! I’m not what you would call a “sweet” person, so a good 
beer is a much better fit for me. Not to mention, as much as I have wanted to, I haven’t been able to get my hands on anything from Liberty yet. Plus, you may recall in one of my recent posts that I am a Dark Beer fiend.
This was a hat-trick of awesomeness! All in one 750 mL bottle! (She even helped me “set the scene” for the lovely Easter photo)
The beer itself pours pitch black, with about a finger and a half of incredibly dark head. So dark it took me a second to see where the beer ended and the head began. The nose is big and rich, full of roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate, and just a hint of boozeyness …getting pretty damned excited by this point…
And in the mouth it does not disappoint! Holy crap it’s good! All the layers come together, it’s just so well balanced that you don’t even notice the big 10.6%ABV. I would actually liken it to drinking dark chocolate, but the good stuff. Think Swiss, maybe like 80% cocoa solids. Just the perfect end to a great Easter Sunday…
Thank you Becca for indulging my taste buds! …I’m salivating just thinking about that beer…
beyond beer pong 