Reverse mokkos

Dark days: SW Brewery Mokko Milk Stout
is brightening up a tough day

Today's been a struggle. Hell, the whole week's not been easy and we're barely half way through it. Can't imagine Thursday or Friday will be all that either. 

Some might think that's a pessimistic outlook and in a way, they'd be right. But I prefer to call it a reverse mocker. Putting the mockers on something generally entails saying how well something's going only for it to go badly wrong almost the instant you've said it. Sports commentators are generally guilty of this and cricket ones especially so.

Reverse mockers are generally employed to counteract the mockers. Being deliberately negative in outlook in the hope something good comes of it. And if that's not optimism, then it's as close as I'm going to get to it right now.

I'm certainly not optimistic about drinking today's beer, which is a shame as it's from the Summer Wine Brewery in Holmfirth. I've already waxed lyrical in praise of their stuff on the excellent Caught By The River website, so I should really be looking forward to this one.

But I'm not. I had far too much red wine last night and have been grappling with the resulting hangover all day. Save the odd trip to the kitchen, I've barely been out of bed. There is something to be said for being self-employed, but I haven't had a bollocking from the boss yet. Must get around to that later. Perhaps after a beer.

And speaking of the beer, it's a Mokko Milk Stout. Not a huge fan of milk, but it's the lactose derived from milk that gives this stuff a sweeter, creamier taste apparently. I'm just hoping it stays down.

Beer: SW Brewery Mokko Milk Stout
Strength: A weighty 6%
Colour: A brown so dark you wouldn't get too many arguments if you were to say it was black.
Smell: A cross between Christmas pudding and floor-cleaning detergent
Tasting notes: Was expecting this to be sweet and cloying, but it's anything but. Doling out generous doses of hoppy bitterness from the off, the sensation is almost painful; as if you've burnt your tongue trying to drink too-hot coffee. It does settle down after a while, though, and you get hints of chocolate and coffee in the finish. Despite what it might sound like from that description, I really rather like it.
Gut reaction: I'm not confident about this. That might be down to the poor state of my stomach after last night's excesses, but already there are rumblings of discontent.
Session factor: Fairly low. I could handle a few in one sitting, but would shy away from drinking it all evening.
Arbitrary score: 280