People in the south, east and west may not get it, but up north walleye fishing is a serious religion. Those dudes take their leeches and splash guards and gigantic nets every bit as seriously as bass guys take swimbaits and tungsten and deep diving crankplugs – maybe even more. A lot of them also like to drink, as evidenced by the fact that in most Wisconsin and Minnesota towns there seems to be a bar or two or three. So I decided to investigate the intersection of walleyes and beer and was not surprised by my findings.
Minnesota’s “Beer for Wildlife” has brews dedicated to big bucks and pheasants and turkeys, but the one that caught my attention was Walleye Chop, a copper lager they created in 2010.
Ohio’s North High Brewing Company offers Grapefruit Walleye. They say that “the dank pungency of Citra hops is amplified by a hearty dose of grapefruit juice.”
Another Ohio brewery, Platform Beer Company, made Walleye Whistle.
A third, Catawaba Island Brewing Company, serves up Walleye-P-A
Sleeping Giant Brewery on the North Shore of Lake Superior has previously offered Fighting Walleye Pickerel Pale Ale.
Walleye hounds: Did I miss any?
Bass may be America’s favorite sportfish, but the bottom-dwelling, omnivorous catfish is pure Americana. We’ve caught giants here on the Potomac River, tried to catch them on blue soap in Zambia, and still hope to land some surubim in South America – but we’ve never had a brew named after one.