ALE, a fermented liquor obtained from an infusion
of malt, and differing from beer chiefly in having a less
proportion of hops. (See BREWING). This liquor,
the natural substitute of wine in such countries as could
not produce the grape, was originally made in Egypt,
the first planted kingdom, on the dispersion from the east,
that was supposed unable to produce grapes. And,
as the Noachian colonies pierced further into the west,
they found, or thought they found, the same defect,
and supplied it in the same manner. Thus the natives
of Spain, the inhabitants of France, and the aborigines
of Britain, all used an infusion of barley for their ordi-
nary liquor: and it was called by the various names of
Chelia and Ceria in the first country, Cercvisia in the
second, and Curmi in the last; all literally importing
only the strong water.
"All the several nations (says Pliny) who inhabit
the west of Europe, have a liquor with which they
intoxicate themselves, made of corn and water. The
manner of making this liquor is somewhat different in
Gaul, Spain, and other countries, and is called by
many various names; but its nature and properties are
everywhere the same. The people of Spain, in parti-
cular, brew the liquor so well, that it will keep good
a long time. So exquisite is the cunning of mankind,
in gratifying their vicious appetites, that they have
thus invented a method to make water itself intox-
cate."
cate." The method in which the ancient Britons, and other Celtic nations, made their ale, is thus described by Isidorus and Orosius. "The grain is steeped in water and made to germinate, by which its spirits are excited and set at liberty; it is then dried and ground; after which it is infused in a certain quantity of water; which, being fermented, becomes a pleasant, warming, strengthening, and intoxicating liquor." This ale was most commonly made of barley, but sometimes of wheat, oats, and millet.
Anciently the Welch and Scots had also two kinds of ale, called common ale and spiced ale; and their value was thus ascertained by law: If a farmer hath no mead, he shall pay two casks of spiced ale, or four casks of common ale, for one cask of mead." By this law, a cask of spiced ale, nine palms in height and 18 palms in diameter, was valued at a sum of money equal in efficacy to 71. 10s. of our present money; and a cask of common ale, of the same dimensions, at a sum equal to 31. 15s. This is a sufficient proof, that even common ale in this period was an article of luxury among the Welch, which could only be obtained by the great and opulent. Wine seems to have been quite unknown, even to the kings of Wales, in this period, as it is not so much as once mentioned in their laws; though Giraldus Cambrensis, who flourished about a century after the Conquest, acquaints us, that there was a vineyard in his time at Macnapper, near Pembroke, in South Wales.
Ale was the favourite liquor of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes, as it had been of their ancestors the ancient Germans. Before their conversion to Christianity, they believed that drinking large and frequent draughts of ale was one of the chief felicities which those heroes enjoyed who were admitted into the hall of Odin.
There are various sorts of ale known in Britain, particularly pale and brown; the former is brewed from malt slightly dried; and is esteemed more viscous than the latter, which is made from malt more highly dried or roasted.
Pale ale brewed with hard waters, as those of springs and wells, is judged the most wholesome, in regard the mineral particles tend to prevent the cohesion of those drawn from the grain, and enable them to pass the proper secretions the better; softer waters, as those of rivers, and rain, seem better suited to draw out the substance of high-dried malts, which retain many igneous particles, best absorbed in a smooth vehicle.
In Staffordshire, they have a secret of fining ale in a very short time. Plot conjectures it to be done by adding alum, or vinegar, in the working.
Ale is prepared various ways, and of various ingredients, as of wheat, rye, millet, oats, barley, the berries of the quickbean, &c.
Some have found that the juice which bleeds from the birch or yewmore is of great use on this occasion, applied instead of water. It makes one bushel of malt go as far as four in the common way.
Some have a method of preparing ale, so that it will keep, carried to the East or West Indies. The secret is, by mashing twice with fresh malt; boiling twice; and, after shipping it, putting to every five gallons two new-laid eggs whole, to remain therein. It is said, that in a fortnight's time the shell shall be dissolved,
and the eggs become like wind-eggs; and that afterwards the white would disappear and the yolk remain untouched.
The consumption of ale in these kingdoms is incredible. It was computed twenty years ago at the value of four millions yearly, including Great Britain and Ireland.
The duties on ale and beer make a principal branch of the revenue in Britain. They were first imposed by the 12th of Car. II. and have been continued by several subsequent acts of parliament to first Geo. III. which lays an additional duty of 3d. per barrel. In the whole, the brewer of ale and beer for sale shall pay 8s. for every barrel of either above 6s. a barrel; and for every barrel of 6s. or under, the sum of 1s. 4d.