Location: Yakima River, Ellensburg, Washington
Beer: FireStation 5 Fire Boat Amber Ale
This past weekend I had a chance to meet up with Joanna to do some fishing on the Yakima River in Ellensburg, Washington. I had called several fly shops in central Washington they all pointed me towards the Yakima, the levels were coming down and the river was going to be shaping up nicely for what was predicted to be the first really gorgeous weekend of the spring.
Upon arriving in Ellensburg the first order of business was to locate a couple of refreshing beers to bring with us out on the river. Since we like to indulge in a bit of local flavor when traveling we tried to find something brewed in central Washington. We went with FireStation 5 Fire Boat Amber Ale. With the promise of nicer weather we wanted to get something drinkable and delicious.
The fishing was a bit tougher than expected. The levels were perfect, but Saturday brought with it strong winds (15-30 mph) and very few hatching bugs. The perfect cloudless skies were an incredible break from the grey west coast winter, but they weren’t so great for the March Brown Hatch.
We managed to find a couple of fish nymphing and even brought in a spunky little rainbow on the streamer. But mainly we did a fair bit of walking and searching, trying to find where the fish were hiding and what they were eating. I’m not complaining – I’m definitely celebrating my first sunburn of the season as the weather was near perfect.
The beer turned out to be a great choice. If you’re looking for a slightly sweet, very refreshing and drinkable beer the Fire Boat Amber Ale is a great selection. We found that the beer was even smoother after warming a bit in the fishing bag – it was weird, it just got more and more drinkable.
All in all a great weekend, with good company, good beer and good fishing!
Appearance: A very nice clear copper color. Little to no head, and what head there was dissipated very quickly
Smell: Sweet and caramelly. Very nice, maybe a little sweet.
Taste/Mouthfeel: Delicious. I would recommend drinking this beer just a bit warmer than you normally would. Ice cold it seems a bit bubbly, a bit warmer it is just straight smooth. The beer has an upfront malty, nutty taste with a sweet caramel finish, has a slight sweet clingy aftertaste.
Overall: I had a couple of these throughout the day while fishing on the first warm sunny day of the year and they were perfect. Tasty and refreshing, just sweet enough Fire Boat Amber Ale is very drinkable and quenches your thirst all day long.
3 out of Six Pack
Beer Stats:
Brewery: FireStation 5 Olympia, WA
Alc/Vol: 5.5%
IBU: about 20
