Chilled But Tasty, notes from the Rogue

Tasty morsels on a chilled evening.  47th Street, 11/16/2014

   I sat on my board taking in the quiet of the evening. The soft spray from the crash of mostly knee-high waves behind me filled the surrounding air with the scent of the Atlantic's salt. I was comfortable in my full suit. The boots kept my feet warm.  My hands, in gloves, were fine until the near end of the session when my fingertips started to tingle. I deal this time of year. Don't like the rubber, but I took three Ibupro's beforehand and that seemed to take care of any discomfort. Small, but calm night. Relaxing. Clean conditions. 58F in the water, 55F air temps. Caught a number of short rides, mostly fronts. Couple backs. Wiped on a few. Face-planted one. Swung into a couple near waist highs morsels that I could squeeze more than a few drops out of. Nice chunks of time that took the stress out of a long week. Bit of a clouded twilight. Watched a front moving in, the menacing dark blue-black skyline moving in from the north; a sharp contrast to the brighter grayish-white cloud cover to the south. Sign of the sub-freezing nights coming later this week. The water temps start to deteriorate snappy fast with colder nights. Holiday's are coming. Family's coming. My sessions are numbered. Next weekend? We'll see.
   The beer review is one from a couple of weeks ago.  A Chicago based brewery, Pig Minds Brewing in Machesney Park. A rather bold coffee based Imperial Stout. Joe Daddy. 100 lbs. brown sugar, 2 gallons of molasses, 5 lbs. Guatemalan joe. A real kick in the ass this one is.  The coffee hits you square, both in the nose and the mouth. Then you get roasty malts, subtle tastes of cocoa, and creamy texture.  Pours black...very opaque black, with a thick brown two finger head.  Heavy equally brown lacing clung to the sides of the glass. Not super sweet. Can taste and feeeeeel the 8.2% alcohol content. A warmer for sure. Enough hops at 25 IBUs to crisp up the finish. Lots going on... especially coffee. Just a little sticky. Rated an A-.

"I've only been in love with a beer bottle and a

mirror."                -Sid Vicious