The lovely folks behind The Catfish in Fitzroy have enjoyed a cracking couple of years since taking over the former Gertrude's Brown Couch, drawing crowds and winning recognition in equal measure.
It's as much down to the joie de vivre with which they imbue what they do (that being pour awesome boozes, serve heart-cloggingly excellent Philly cheesesteaks, host DJs and bands, among other things). Including birthday parties.
Last year, they marked turning one with the Poker Pub Crawl, a rather extravagant affair that saw them invite other local venues to be part of a pub crawl that ended with prizes and a party at their joint later in the day. It proved such a success that they're at it again.
For those new to the concept, the rules are:
- Teams (ideally of three to six people) gather at The Catfish anytime from 12.30pm
- Buy one pot of any of our birthday beers, take a photo and upload it onto social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) with the #Catfishturns2 hash tag and show the bar staff
- Your team then receives one random playing card from our special birthday card pack.
- Your team then has until 8pm to go to all other four venues: The Gertrude Hotel, Forester's Hall, The Rainbow Hotel & Two Row to once again buy a single pot (per team) then take a photo.
- Post to social media, prove to a staff member & receive a card and get back to Catfish.
Then, upon returning to The Catfish, your five cards form your poker hand: best hand wins, while there are also prizes for first back, last back, best team name and best photo.
The birthday beers that will be pouring at the venues are:
- The Cavalier Catfish 2: Cavalier's Belgian Golden Strong (8.8%)
- The Samurai Catfish: A 3 Ravens Goyza Gueuza (That's right, a salty sour with a twist, not sure I think its about 5%)
- The Inappropriate Gentleman: 4 Pines, English IPA (about 6%)
- Pint Break: Mt Goat's West Coast Style US IPA (7%)
Happy crawling!
