The Perfect Marriage - Hockey & Beer

     Though winter is officially upon us, and the general consensus is that people wanna stay inside during the next few months, things are slightly different when being from Minnesota... It's a beautiful thing that an ice rink during the winter months is as common a sight as a baseball diamond during the summer - And I state that with no exaggeration... There's a public outdoor rink for just about every lake in the state - 10,000 for those who don't get out of their bubble too often... Along with hockey, there's yet another joy in life that's best savored cold - BEER!! As just about any hockey player will tell you, hockey and beer are an extremely common union, a belief that reaches much further than the state lines of Minnesota... Probably also helps in explaining why so many hockey players have false teeth somewhere in their dental repertoire... Though it's much more sensible to enjoy a case of relatively cheap beer when playin' some stick on the pond, enjoying a nice craft brew once the skates come off is never a penalized play...

Focal: A Photo & Film Expo

     On Friday December 12th, the Locallective Loft made its' space available for "Focal: A Photo & Film Expo" hosted by Modest... The venue was somewhat hidden, as the only indicator that there was a show being held upstairs was a small slab of wood with "Modest Show - Please Shut Door!" written on it... Once inside, the stairwell led immediately to a beautifully painted graffiti piece with the silhouette of the Chicago skyline seemingly "burning" through the upper right corner of it... That led you past a row of stickers, flyers and business cards of those associated with the shows production, all in front of a studio area, where it looked as if pieces were in the process of being completed... After collecting some memorabilia, we did what any respectable art-show-goer does - We hit the bar!!

XII's - 72 Imperial X Christmas Ale

 Breckenridge Brewery - 72 Imperial [Small Batch Series - Chocolate Cream Stout] (12oz ---> Lefthand Pint Glass : 7.2 ABV : 11 IBU)

  This beer was for some reason singled out at my local store and was the only one available on the shelf… There could be a few reasons as to why, but it seems they're usually placed there after having been available for a while, (over a year) or, what I assumed happened to this beer, one of the 4/6 pack became victim to a break and they had to be sold as individuals… If this happened to be a beer with some age on it, hopefully the 7.2 ABV helped it age gracefully…

  The large car graphic wrapping around almost the entire bottle insists the "72 Imperial" is somewhat of a classic vehicle, and a small amount of research uncovered it is exactly that, a Chrysler to be more specific… To add a nice touch to the "72" theme, the '72 Imperial fittingly had a 7.2 liter V-8 engine as well… Also, since it's a chocolate cream stout brewed in Colorado, they chose to use Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory's "dark chocolate" in the brewing recipe…

Video: Grant Skate Park, Chicago - Opening Day

Image borrowed from SkateNoize.com

     Skateboarding has always been a staple in my life... Having learned how at a young age, I've come to appreciate and love the simple joy of smooth pavement and wide carves... In the beginning I put many miles on a hand-me-down John Lucero X-2, so longboarding is much more my style these days... Not to say that I don't enjoy rocking out some street lines from time to time, it's just that I've found that my roots have translated to a greater affinity with the longboards... I've always had the luxury of living relatively close to a skatepark, thus I've always been able to acquaint myself with the scene whether on solo missions or through good times spent with friends... That scene has been kind to me, so I do what I can to show it support in any way I can!!

     I came across Modest Inc., which is a dope boutique shop in Forest Park, IL when picking up some art supplies one afternoon... I began following them on Instagram and they posted a flyer which promoted the opening of a new skatepark in Grant Park!! I thought it odd that Chicago would be opening a park in the first week of December, but a little research has has lead me to believe it was to allocate funds from a budget back into the city, thus ensuring further funding in the future... With three acres of street park being strewn across downtown Chicago a few hundred yards from the lakeshore, it's no wonder $2.65 million is the tab on the project... So hopefully someones fiscal year was saved with the official opening of this project occurring when it did, even if it'll most likely be covered in snow within a matter of weeks...

Salty & Sweet - Salted Belgian Chocolate Stout

New Belgium Brewing X Perennial Artisan Ales - Lips Of Faith Series: Salted Belgian Chocolate Stout [Stout Brewed With Chocolate] (22oz ---> Left Hand Pint Glass : 9% ABV : 35 IBU)

There are few things in life as satisfying as watching Minnesota hockey and enjoying a finely crafter brew… They're out there, but the list is fairly short… And much the like the fashion world, with the changing of seasons, breweries also begin to release "season specific" styles, and hockey season is a good indicator that winter warmers are soon to be bountiful in any liquor store… With it still being fall, I figured a "Belgian" chocolate stout would be a light introduction before I dove fully into the winter beer mindset… But when the holiday season fully kicks into gear and Grandma makes her sugar cookies with a Hershey kiss on top, they wouldn't be heavenly without the dose of salt she adds to the recipe to balance out the sweetness… Thus, a salty chocolate stout is one I'm in no hurry to pass up!!