Today was one of those days. You know the type – pretty much nothing goes right all day long. George woke up fussy and got worse from there. No idea why, poor little guy. We tried to go fishing. I say tried because it was pretty much a fiasco from the start.
We pulled in and it was sunny (only good part of the whole fishing experience) and cold about 30 degrees. I got out to get my gear on and to bring Aimee her gear, on cold days she prefers to gear up in the front seat, and she’s small enough that it works well. So I open the front passenger door and say “So, you have two left boots, one of mine and one of yours. Sorry.”
Yeah. I wasn’t paying attention when I grabbed the gear this morning and nabbed one of her boots and one of my boots. See, I have two pairs, a felt soled pair that I don’t fully appreciate, and a rubber soled pair that I love, but whose soles are falling off. I have been trying to use the felt boots so I don’t end up finally kicking the sole off the rubber ones when we are miles from the car, but my rubber soled boots and her rubber soled boots are exactly the same (Of course her’s are about half the size of mine. Don’t worry, she made sure to point that out). I grabbed two left footed boots, one a size 6 and one a size 11, as I said – one of those days.
Luckily I have an amazing wife who wasn’t even fazed. She said, “No problem, I’ll carry George and take pictures.” She did tease me all day about intentionally forgetting her boot so I could fish, so I didn’t get off scott free. From there we headed to the closest hole. I fished. And fished. And fished some more. I threw every cool mend I knew. I got a strike while not paying attention and popping ice out of my guides. I didn’t catch it. I caught one snorkelhoser (whitefish). It was medium sized and did not get eaten by a bull trout on the way to hand (oh yeah, I forgot the net too). I lost two flies in this hole.
From there we proceeded to another good hole that holds bows, snorkelhosers and bull trout. While there I managed to lose two full set ups (one set up included losing the bobber as well), have no bites, and catch no fish. At least I didn’t break a rod. As I said – one of those days.
When we got home I was ready for a beer or three. I am on vacation, our truck and trailer are getting dialed, and we head to the coast for chinook tomorrow or the next day. It’s time to organize gear and relax, and for that I have a growler full of Sweet As! Pacific Ale by GoodLife Brewing. I picked this up to bring to Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws and no one drank it and no one wanted a to-go cup, so I guess I’ll drink it! Talk about hitting the spot! This beer is smooth, delicious and highly sessionable – recommended!
Appearance: A clear dark gold color. Large fluffy white head that receded. Some lacing.
Smell: Flowers and citrus. A little grassy, the hops really drive the scent.
Taste/Mouthfeel: Not as hoppy as the smell. Clean and crisp. Very bubbly on the tongue, refreshing. Well balanced with a nice grapefruit finish.
Overall: I’m not sure I got the season exactly right when I bought this beer. I think that this would be amazing after a hot day on the water, a long hard mountain bike ride or some hockey. It is smooth and sessionable and refreshing. Give it a try!
4 out of a Six Pack Scale©
ABV: 6%
IBU: 18
OG: 15
Brewery: GoodLife Brewing Company, Bend, OR
