Beer with a side of fish

While I'm not the avid angler by any stretch of the imagination, I do enjoy the occasional fishing trip to (I swear I'm not making this up) Crotch Lake in Canada with my family.  I also enjoy eating fish.  So when a beer friend of mine, Stakem, invited a group of us to his house in Tower City for a "Fish Fry and Beer Tasting," Brewslut and I made plans to attend.  The event was held on Saturday, April 2, the regional opening day of trout fishing in select PA counties.  Well, unfortunately the morning fishing excursion proved less than fruitful for Stakem and his angling cohorts, meaning they didn't return with much yield.  I think it's safe to say, "Hey fellas, stick to homebrewing!"

Where's the fish, Stakem?

In all seriousness, it was a well-attended event, with Team D(r)INK members Deuane, Carolyn, Dan, Kristen, Brewslut and myself all in attendance, as well as Matt and his wife and new baby, plus some of our NEPA beer buddies Stakem (obviously), Jason, Leon, Cory and a few others I'd never met before.  Even my friend Kramer (from up near my old stomping grounds) crashed the party when he found out that Dan was bringing a growler of the new Spring House Hickory Smoked Bacon Porter.  He, as usual, was the lone RateBeer.com guy amongst a mob of BAs.

Some of the highlights of the evening were Cigar City Brandy Barrel Aged Marshal Zhukov Imperial Stout, Lost Abbey Red Poppy, and the growler of Lost Abbey Brandy Barrel Angel's Share that I picked up the previous weekend at Sabatini's).  Oh yeah, and a sixtel of New England Imperial Stout Trooper on TAP.  Wow!  Huge props to Stakem for throwing a great event, even though there was an obvious shortage of fish!

Me and Dan after an entire day of drinking... m'wah!

 Check out some beer reviews from the evening...

Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout - Brandy Barrel Aged
Lawson's Finest Liquids Maple Nipple