World Cup Beers

The worlds biggest sporting event kicks off this friday in South Africa when 32 countries compete for footballs biggest prize the World Cup. Such is the pull of this magical event that millions of people across the country (including those who don't give a fig about the game the rest of the time) will be glued to the screen for the next month. The thing is we all know watching football and drinking beer go hand in hand with each other. The supermarkets will do a killing over this period and pubs with the good sense to invest in a big screen should do pretty favourably too.
I will succombe to world cup fever and start believing that maybe just maybe this will be England's year. I will become engrossed in a festival of football that will bring to our screens a whole different perspective to the game than the premiership provides us. I will give my wife a well earned break from me and I'll negotiate working hours with my boss to make sure I don't miss a minute.

I will also of course endulge in the ritual of drinking beer while watching footie, but what is the perfect footie watching beer? Of course the answer to that depends on the indivdual and their taste but is their a formula we can use to determine what Ale is most suitable? Now the first thing I will do is rule out the fizzy pop that will be drunk by the masses as in my prejudiced view lager (I'm not including quality european Pilseners in this) is just the cheap lazy option. The obvious choice is a session ale. I am not looking to get rat-arsed during the games and I don't want to waste beers that should be reserved for proper appreciation. I am not looking for a hop-bomb or something matured in whisky casks. I want something smooth, refreshing but still satisfying.

There is another option which I think would be a lot of fun and a good way to get into the spirit of things. I could pick beers from all the participating countries and drink them during the relevant matches. There is a major flaw in this though, what if some of the countries don't produce there own Beer? I would imagine the African countries would be a major stumbling block but the alternative would be to choose the beer of choice of that country. The other problem with this is it would take some organising and may prove a tad expensive.

The route that I think will be best for me is to bring in a whole host of my favourite session ales and work my way through them during the course of the tournament and hopefully by the time Stevie Gerrard climbs the steps to lift World Cup aloft I will have it sussed. Oh come on I can dream can't I?