Jan 12 2010 12:35 pm
wear this website
Though filled with much winter angst that runneth over into every one of my emails, web comments, and personal interactions, I take some solace in great Pennsylvania writers that mention my home town and the company of artists that make badass t-shirt/sticker designs for this website.
Mr. Julian Hensarling came over this morning and did his magic CS4 thing to some ideas I had for a logo. Julian, you are the man. Please find them below. It is a smallmouth bass in a nonic pint glass. I’ll break your arm so you gotta wear a...sling. The white design/black background will go on a black, heavy duty t-shirt (centered on the chest) and the black design/white background will go on a sticker.
I’m doing this mainly because I want to have shirts and stickers for myself, but I’m hoping perhaps some other people do as well. I’m going to order the usual assortment of men’s M, L, and XL shirts, but if you want a shirt in some other size, let me know as soon as possible: matt [AT] fishbeer [DOT] com. Shirts will be $15 for M-XL, $17 for XXL and larger. Stickers will be $1 each. I’ll give you a sticker if you buy a t-shirt. They’re fun for the whole family. We'll have a pay pal thing set up here at some point in the near future.
Now for some John Updike, from Rabbit, Run:
“If he is heading east, south is on his right. And then, as if the world were just standing around waiting to serve his thoughts, a broad road to the right is advertised, ROUTE 100 WEST CHESTER WILMINGTON. Route 100 has a fine ultimate sound. He doesn’t want to go to Wilmington but it’s the right direction. He does want to go to West Chester, however, because he has heard it is the most awesome city in the most awesome state in the most awesome country.”
I made that last sentence up. Just in case you were wondering.
Help a brother out. Let me know about the shirts.
May 27 2009 8:52 pm
Hemingway on fishbeer
From “Fishing the Rhone Canal,” Toronto Daily Star, June 10, 1922.
“There are great trout in the Canada du Rhone, and it is when the sun has dropped back of the mountains and you can fish down the stream with the evening breeze that they can be taken…
Napoleon’s batman may have gotten up at sun up before the camp and sneaked a trout or two out of the Rhone canal for the Little Corporal’s breakfast. And before Napoleon, the Romans came along the valley and built this road and some Helvetian in the road gang probably used to sneak away from the camp in the evening to try for a big one in one of the pools under the willows. In the Roman days the trout perhaps weren’t as shy…
I have never seen the town of Aigle, it straggles up the hillside, but there is a cafe across the station that has a galloping gold horse on top, a great wisteria vine as thick through as a young tree that branches out and shades the porch with hanging bunches of purple flowers that bees go in and out of all day long and that glisten after a rain; green tables with green chairs, and seventeen per cent dark beer. The beer comes foaming out in great glass mugs that hold a quart and cost forty centimes, and the barmaid smiles and asks about your luck.”
Sep 2 2008 3:22 pm
RBF pro staff member confused, disoriented after too much good fishing and good beer
Dr. Wade Rivers doesn't have a real name. But he does have a real blarg. And it's one of the finest Pennsylvania trout blargs on the interwebs. He even told me that Penn's Creek valley between Coburn and Weikert-ish was called Karoondinha Gorge by the original inhabitants (though I did tell him once that Baree Gorge is not called Rothrock Gorge). That is information you can use people.
Dr. Wade Rivers is a member of a consortium of fly fishers known as the RBF Pro Staff. The RBF Pro Staff "...is an elite cast of fly fishing characters with unique and varied talents. The RBF Pro Staff was assembled by RatherBFishin aka Chief during the Big Woods Summit of 2006 along the banks of the First Fork of the Sinnamahoning after witnessing or otherwise learning of various ungodly fishing accomplishments. Flyrodder, for example, was selected for the ungodly accomplishment of fishing himself sober. Not to be confused with fishing with a hangover. Flyrodder was recently promoted to VP of Operations and remains Director of Sobriety Fishin."
The RBF Pro Staff just returned from what appears to have been a rather successful trip to Montana. They, and Wade Rivers, have many beautiful pictures to prove it. I suggest you go check them out.
However, and this is where I have a bone to pick, one of their members claims that the beers in Montana are "...a bit finer than what we have here in PA."
Bullshite. Giant bullshite.
Now, some of you may well be aware of my great and sometimes irrational love for the state of Pennsylvania, a love that would lead me to argue that the fishing in Pennsylvania is better than in Montana. Admittendly, this is a claim that might encounter some resistance. But Pennsylvania has Montana roundly defeated in the brewing world. I'm not saying that there aren't any good Montana beers. There are. I've had some of them. But Pennsylvania is one of the top five or ten brewing states in our fair nation. And Montana is not.
Check back soon for the beginnings of a contest: "The Fishbeer.com Greatest Town/City/Area in Our Fair Nation for Angling AND Imbibing Fine Ales and Lagers Contest." I'll take a look at a couple places in some detail. You tell me how wrong I am. Harrisburg PA? Yeah, I'll make that case. Portland OR? Seattle WA? Overrated? Yes. Yes they are.
Aug 29 2008 11:04 am
as if I didn't know it's hard living in Montana
I received an email from Brock the other day. He's from Montana. Brock is the kind of guy who comes correct. "I live in Montana (say fish) and my best friend in town has the local brewery (say beer) and we tend to combine both whenever we can."
It's a hard life in Montana.
As for me, I'm in Pennsylvania after a week in Western North Carolina where I didn't catch a single fish. The Hurricane didn't help. Though I do have several beery things to report from Asheville. Stay tuned.
And check out Brock's pictures.
Aug 14 2008 11:58 am
this website has fish AND beer
Just wait till winter rolls around. It will be beer all the time. Even the beer people (read: Yaniv) will demand fishing in January. But before the next fishing post, one more from New Mexico, I’m going to slip something in under the radar about beer.
Mr. Grand Poobah, aka “The Judge”, because of his BJCP credentials, has been selected to sit on World Class Beverages new Panel of World Domination Hegemony Selector Committee, or PWDHSC for short. The PWDHSC has been charged with evaluating, ranking, and writing a brief description of each of the fine craft beers in World Class Beverage’s large portfolio. They’ll put these on a website. They’ll have “shelf talkers.” They’ll “educate the ignorant” so that they’ll “grow the category.”
Whatever. The bottom line is that Ryan gets a bunch of free beer and he’s a sharing kind of guy.
Yaniv and I arrived at Ryan’s otherwise well appointed suburban abode to find a sterile white tile chamber of BJCP judging magic. Filtered water, small pieces of bread, a computer, notes and textbooks, a rather large enema apparatus, Ryan was ready to get down to business. According to the BJCP, beer is always best tasted completely naked and shaved. Eyebrows too.
We started with Abita’s Strawberry beer which sucked. It was a diacetyl bomb. Their Purple Haze was flawless but boring. North Coast’s Red Seal Ale was great as usual. It was my daily tipple when I lived in North Carolina and those were good times. The bitter, resinous, piney hops overpower the fairly dry malts but that’s fine. It makes for a quick sipper.
The Wychwood I had on Cask in London last summer was way better than the stuff we had in a bottle the other night. Though that’s hardly a surprise: fresher is usually better when it comes to beer. Their Hobgoblin was still quite nice with a fairly hefty darker malt component but a bit on the dry side in the finish, just a shade harsh.
My favorite beer of the group was also from England: Sam Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale. On the strong side for a British beer, 6.0% abv, that’s sadly almost average for US craft beers. I love this beer because it’s distinctive without being overwhelming. It has the distinct Sam Smith fermentation character, what I think of as almost a bit musty. Not funky really in any way, but there’s something on the edges. The rich, caramel malt character supports a hefty but restrained hopping rate. The beer has a substantial body, but still finishes crisply. I love this beer.
Rogue’s Hazelnut monstrosity smelled nice, but could step down the hazelnut flavor a shade or four. Bell’s Cherry Stout was as aggressive as always with blades of super sour cherries slicing up the thick, roasty malt gel. Avery’s Karma Ale was confusing. A Belgian? Really? A bit too subtle for me to tell. Old Coast Old #38 Stout was very fine. Not much of a dry stout, but a great stout nonetheless.
Will the real Belgian, or French-Canadian, please stand up?
Unibroue’s Don de Dieu shoots his little golden hand into the air and shakes it all around. “I’m Quebecois! I’m Quebecois! I go to Stone Harbor New Jersey in the summers! I love TJ MAXX! But for not being Belgian I’m about as Belgian as you can get! I put mayonnaise on everything!” Indeed little guy. You’ll get your own country one of these days. In the meantime, keep up the good work. You’re a fine example of a strong Belgian Pale Ale.
Then there was Samichlaus. The king shellacker. The 14% abv is hidden as well as 14% can be hid, but you can still tell it’s there. It’s “warming.” It tastes like burning. Super Nintendo Chalmers. I ated the purple berries.
