Traditionally there are two things the Americans can’t do. One is make a car that goes round corners and the second is brew ale. The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company have been brewing since 1980 and their Pale Ale is the flagship beer of the brewery, winning several awards over the years.

This grabbed my attention because ten years ago, I was in the Sierra Nevada mountains, hurling myself down a snowy hill like a maniac. As for the idyllic picture on the bottle, the region really looks like that. I was also drawn to the beer as you can get three bottles for £4 in Tesco. Bargain.

There’s quite a gentle aroma to this drink however it’s barely present at all, you have to really shove your nose into your glass to pick it up. The beer has a pleasing rich golden colour, clear to the eye.

Most importantly the taste is one hell of a surprise. I don’t know what I was expecting, having never drank an American ale. There’s a slight hint of a fizz to the drink which initially plays on the tongue. A bit like a faint memory of popping candy. Once you get used to the taste, you realise you’re drinking a pleasant pale ale. Not mind blowing in anyway but certainly above average. We’re in pure summer beer territory here. Light and hoppy with tingling citrus undertones.

There’s no real aftertaste to speak of but you won’t worry about that, you’ll be too busy opening the next bottle. I’d gladly drink this all night long. Bad news is that was my last bottle.

america · Beers · pale ale · sierra nevada

Personally I don’t think the Americans are such a bad bunch at the end of the day, in much the same way I think a bit of crack now and then doesn’t do you any bad. What they do suck at big time, though, is sports. Not sport itself – they’re fast little bastards and tall as trees when need be – but their sports are full-on all-round lame. All my life I’ve just laughed them off but in the last ten years, more and more of their theatricism and showmanship has pervaded the true English sport – football – and this last month has seen two examples that if they were ever to occur in the Premier League I would have to stop visiting pubs showing dodgy Arabian coverage and getting sly tickets from my mate at the Rovers.

This first example shows the kind of shit, unwarranted hype of every moment in a game that Sky do to a degree, but ITV are the worst culprits of. EVERY! moment has to BE! punctuated by SOMETHING! so exciting you can’t change CHANNEL! Witness this bunch of Yankee ponces getting flustered over a broken bit of glass.

Horrendous.

Next up we’ve got a piece of hooliganism that would have Brian Clough turning in his grave.

Who are these guys, the Lakers Casuals? They must meet in bars beforehand, sink two Buds and go cause a riot with ISO-friendly foam products. Pat Sharpe and the Fun House Crew would wipe the floor with this lot.

In a demented way all of this tiresome theatricism and exaggeration of the most mundane moments does make me yearn for the simpler times of casual violence, Bovril, jumpers for goalposts and muddy 3-2 battles on cold January afternoons. And that’s coming from a vegetarian whose sole combat experience of the last 20 years consists of clipping a camp youth around the ear. Joking aside, there’s a valid point; Americanising everything reduces it to a sanitised, family-friendly product void of any of the real-world excitement, danger, smells and sounds of the English version. We had something to be proud of but it’s completely gone at the top level – the atmosphere at even the best Premier League game today is totally stifled by the “family-friendly” ethos – and you need to drop down a few leagues to get a taste of what every ground used to be like. It’s a shame, but I’m sure it’s already too far down the line, too much money involved, to turn round from the American way.

america · basketball · football · ITV · Premier League · SKY