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ALE

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 538 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ALE , an old word for a fermented liquor obtained chiefly from See also:

MALT (O. Eng., mealt; O. Sax., malt; O. Tent., maltos; Mod. Ger., Malz; Scand., malt; probably derived from the Sanskrit mrdu, soft, thus having reference to the fact that malt is raw grain rendered soft or tender)

malt. In See also:

England " ale " is nowadays practically synonymous with " See also:

BEER

beer." Before the introduction of hops into England from See also:

FLANDERS (Flem. Vlaanderen)

Flanders in the 16th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century ale was the name exclusively applied to malt liquor, the See also:

TERM

term beer being gradually introduced to describe liquor brewed with an infusion of hops. This distinction does not apply at the See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

time, except in so far as the term ale is not applied to See also:

black beers (stout and See also:

porter) nor to lager beer. In the See also:

UNITED

United States, however, it is customary to confine the designation beer to the See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article obtained by the bottom See also:

FERMENTATION

fermentation See also:

PROCESS

process. In former times the Welsh and Scots had two distinct kinds of ale, called See also:

COMMON

common and spiced See also:

ALES (ALEsIus), ALEXANDER (1500-1565)

ales, the relative values of which were appraised by See also:

law in the following terms: " If a See also:

FARMER, RICHARD (1735–1787)

farmer have no See also:

mead, he shalhpay two casks of spiced ale, or four casks of common ale, for one cask of mead." There are numerous varieties of See also:

ENGLISH

English ales, such as mild ale, which is a full, sweetish beer, of a dark See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour and with relatively little See also:

HOP (Ger. Hopfen, Fr. houblon)

hop; See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale ale, which is relatively dry, of See also:

LIGHT

light colour and of a more pronounced hop flavour than the mild ale; and See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter and stock ales, the latter term being generally reserved for See also:

SUPERIOR

superior beers, such as are used for bottling. The terms pale, bitter, stock, light, &c., are to be regarded as See also:

trade distinctions and not as exact See also:

DEFINITIONS

definitions of quality or type. (See BEER and See also:

BREWING

BREWING.) See also:

PARISH (Gr. irapouda, district, neighbourhood; 7r&poucos, one dwelling near or beside, from crap&, OtKOS, house; Lat. paroecur, Late Lat. parochia; cf. Fr. paroisse)

Parish Ales.—In old England an " ale " was synonymous with a parish festival or merry-making at which ale was the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief drink. The word was generally used in See also:

composition. Thus there were leet-ales (that held on leet or manorial See also:

court See also:

day); See also:

lamb-ales (that held at lamb-shearing); Whitsun-ales, clerk-ales, See also:

church-ales and so on. The word bridal is really See also:

BRIDE (a common Teutonic word, e.g..Goth. bruths, O. Eng. bryd, O. H. Ger. prs2t, Mod. Ger. Bract, Dut. bruid, possibly derived from the root bru-, cook, brew; from the med. latinized form bruta, in the sense of daughter-in-law, is derived the Fr. bru)

bride-ale, the See also:

WEDDING

wedding feast. Bid-ales, once very common throughout England, were " benefit " feasts to which a See also:

general invitation was given, and all the neighbours attending were expected to make some contribution to help the See also:

OBJECT

object of the "benefit." (See "Bidding-Weddings" under BRIDE.) These parish festivals were of much ecclesiastical and social importance in See also:

MEDIEVAL

medieval England. The chief purpose of church-ales and clerk-ales, at least, was to facilitate the collection of parish-dues, or to make an actual profit for the church from the See also:

sale of the liquor by the church wardens.

These profits kept the parish church in repair, or were distributed as See also:

ALMS

alms to the poor. At Sygate, See also:

Norfolk, on the See also:

GALLERY (through Ital. galleria, from Med. Lat. galeria, of which the origin is unknown)

gallery of the church.is inscribed See also:

God See also:

SPEED, JOHN (1552–1629)

speed the plough And give us See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good ale enow . Be merry and glade, With good ale was this See also:

WORK

work made. On the See also:

beam of a See also:

SCREEN (usually, but very doubtfully, connected with Lat. scrinium, a box for holding books, from scribere, to write; a connexion with Ger. Schranke, barrier, has been suggested)

screen in the church of See also:

Thorpe-le-Soken, See also:

Essex, is the following inscription in raised See also:

GOTHIC

Gothic letters, on a See also:

SCROLL

scroll held by two angels—" This cost is the bachelers made by ales thesn be ther med." The date is about 1480. The feast was usually held in a See also:

BARN

barn near the church or in the See also:

churchyard. In Tudor times church-ales were held on Sundays. Gradually the parish-ales were limited to the Whitsun See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season, and these still have See also:

LOCAL

local survivals. The colleges of the See also:

UNIVERSITIES

universities used formerly to brew their own ales and hold festivals known as See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

college-ales. Some of these ales are still brewed and famous, like " See also:

CHANCELLOR (M. Eng. and Anglo-Fr. canceler, chanceler, Fr. chancelier, Lat. cancellarius)

chancellor " at See also:

Queen's College, and " See also:

ARCHDEACON (Lat. archidiaconus, Gr. &oxt3tauovor)

archdeacon " at Merton College, See also:

Oxford, and " See also:

AUDIT

audit ale " at Trinity, See also:

Cambridge. See See also:

Brand's Popular Antiquities of See also:

GREAT

Great See also:

BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain (Wm. See also:

Carew See also:

HAZLITT, WILLIAM (1778-1830)

Hazlitt's edition, 1905).

End of Article: ALE

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