Beer, beer and more beer!

We've been drinking our way through the vineyards of New Zealand for the last week or so, and while it's been absolutely fabulous, we got a nice change of pace - in the form of BEER. Neil Miller, a beer expert with an ironic last name, took us on a beer tasting tour in Wellington and I have to say that I learned a thing or two about pairing beer with food.

We started off at Mac's Brewery, a restaurant and brewery right by the waterfront in Wellington. We had six different beers to taste, along with a platter of bites from blue cheese to pate. Each beer paired nicely with a different item; for example, the red ale worked perfectly with the blue cheese and the lighter beer went perfectly with the pickled mussels.

Next we went to St. John's Hotel, a restaurant that is housed in a former ambulance garage. We tasted three different kinds of beers...

...and were treated to some gorgeous New Zealand green lipped mussels. I got my hands on a female one, hence the peach color surrounding the flesh.

We also had a beautiful scallop, served with the roe attached. Most restaurants in NZ leave the roe on, which is a really nice touch. It adds a slight salty bite to the mild scallop.

We also had crostini with beef and a caramelized onion jam, which was fantastic.

Lastly we went to D4, an elegant beer bar and restaurant, where we sampled some of NZ's smaller boutique beers. Though the food they served was just OK, the beers were excellent. I will have to post the names later - I have to dig through my notes (sorry!!)...more soon!