With that throaty rallying cry, beer blogger Steve Williams all but guaranteed himself  “one of the most coveted jobs in the world” – London’s official beer taster.

After exhaustive rounds of blind taste tests  of stouts, lagers,  pale ales and porters, Williams was only slightly ahead of his nearest rivals. The final beer barrel-sized obstacle to him achieving his lifelong goal was a one minute presentation laying out why he thought he was the best man for the job. A heady challenge.

The position of ale taster, or ale conner as it’s traditionally known, is one that stretches back centuries in England. A tradition reaching back to a time when ale was known as ‘liquid bread’ for its nutritional value and when it was actually safer to drink than  water. City or town authorities appointed a responsible local person, of sober habits,  to ensure ale being served in the many inns and taverns was up to standard, being sold at the correct price and served in a vessel that met exacting specifications. In other words, conners were quality control for England’s pubs.

Legend has it ale conners of old would wear leather trousers for their giddying task. Pouring out a puddle of the new ale being tested onto a wooden bench, they’d proceed to sit in it for half an hour. If their backside stuck to the bench when they came to leave, it would indicate the brew hadn’t been properly fermented and withdrawn from sale.  According to some accounts William Shakespeare’s dad  (John) was the ale conner for Stratford Upon Avon.

Leather pants were conspicuously absent at London’s Spitalfields Market on June 9th, when the six finalists in the competition to become the city’s newest official ale taster frothed and bubbled along.  Word is more than a thousand hopefuls had gone after the post with detailed applications letters saying things such as “I like beer”. All eyes were on the grinning, self assured figure of Williams staring intently into every new beer sample, gentle stirring it with a finger,  holding it up to the light to check color. Two competitors away, a professional from the liquor industry was subjecting her samples to similar treatment. This job “interview”  was going to come down to the presentations.

As the crowd in the market grew, enthused by free beer tasting and the titanic tussle going on up on the stage, Williams stood to speak.  He went for broke. “I’ve been training for this day for 30 years,” he said.  A knowing cheer went up around the market.  On the subject of the UK’s  struggling pubs he yelled,  “we have to use them and booze them or we’re going to lose them!” The panel of brewing aficionados judging the event went for their score cards and up came the first ‘10′ of the competition. It tipped the contest in Williams’ favor. A worthy winner, he made sure he chugged the last of his samples before accepting his prize. As the winner, Spitalfields Market  will give him a weekly allowance to visit pubs and bars throughout the city and report back via the web on the quality of the beers and service he encounters on his merry travels.

And when Fox News asked the champion if he had anything to say to his many fans and wells wishers, he simply said “cheers!”