Can You Spot the The Difference Between Ale and Beer

OF BERE.

“Bere is made of malte, of hoppes, and water; it is the naturall drynke for a Dutche man, and nowe of late dayes it is moche vsed in Englande to the detryment of many Englysshe people; specyally it kylleth them the which be troubled with the colycke, and the stone, and the strangulion; for the drynke is a colde drynke; yet it doth make a man fat, and doth inflate the bely, as it doth appere by the Dutche men’s faces and belyes. If the bere be well serued, and be fyned, and not new, it doth qualyfy heat of the liquer.”

The distinction between ale and beer as described by Boorde lasted for a hundred years or more. As hops came into general use, though malt liquors generally were now beer, the word ale was still retained, and was used whether the liquor it was intended to designate was {7}hopped or not. At the present day beer is the generic word, which includes all malt liquors; while the word ale includes all but the black or brown beers—porter and stout. The meanings of the words are, however, subject to local variations. This subject is further treated of in Chapter VII.

The union of hops and malt is amusingly described in one of the Brasenose College alepoems:―

A Grand Cross of “Malta,” one night at a ball,Fell in love with and married “Hoppetta the Tall.”Hoppetta, the bitterest, best of her sex,By whom he had issue—the first, “Double X.”

Three others were born by this marriage—“a girl,”Transparent as Amber and precious as Pearl.Then a son, twice as strong as a Porter or Scout,And another as “Spruce” as his brother was “Stout.”

Double X, like his Sister, is brilliant and clear,Like his Mother, tho’ bitter, by no means severe:Like his Father, not small, and resembling each brother,Joins the spirit of one to the strength of the other.

In John Taylor’s time there seems to have existed among ale drinkers a wholesome prejudice against wine in general, and more especially sack. The water poet writes very bitterly on the subject:―

Thus Bacchus is ador’d and deified,And we Hispanialized and Frenchifide;Whilst Noble Native Ale and Beere’s hard fateAre like old Almanacks, quite out of date.

Thus men consume their credits and their wealths,And swallow Sicknesses in drinking healths,Untill the Fury of the spritefull GrapeMountes to the braine, and makes a man an Ape.

Another poet wrote in much the same strain:―

Thy wanton grapes we do detest:Here’s richer juice from Barley press’d.Oh let them come and taste this beerAnd water henceforth they’ll forswear.

Our ancestors seem, indeed, almost to have revered good malt liquor. Richard Atkinson gave the following excellent advice to Leonard Lord Dacre in the year 1570: “See that ye keep a noble house for beef and beer, that thereof may be praise given to God and to your honour.”

The same subject—comparison of sack with ale to the disadvantage of the former—is still better treated in an old ale song by Beaumont; it is such a good one of its kind that we give it in full:―

ANSWER OF ALE TO THE CHALLENGE OF SACK.

Come all you brave wights,That are dubbed ale-knights,Now set out yourselves in sight;And let them that crackIn the presence of SackKnow Malt is of mickle might.

Though Sack they defineIs holy divine,Yet it is but naturall liquor,Ale hath for its partAn addition of artTo make it drinke thinner or thicker.

Sack; fiery fume,Doth waste and consumeMen’s humidum radicale;It scaldeth their livers,It breeds burning feavers,Proves vinum venenum reale.

But history gathers,From aged forefathers,That Ale’s the true liquor of life,Men lived long in health,And preserved their wealth,Whilst Barley broth only was rife.{9}

Sack, quickly ascends,And suddenly ends,What company came for at first,And that which yet worse is,It empties men’s pursesBefore it half quenches their thirst.

Ale, is not so costlyAlthough that the most lyeToo long by the oyle of Barley;Yet may they part late,At a reasonable rate,Though they came in the morning early.

Sack, makes men from wordsFall to drawing of swords,And quarrelling endeth their quaffing;Whilst dagger ale BarrelsBeare off many quarrelsAnd often turn chiding to laughing.

Sack’s drink for our masters,All may be Ale-tasters,Good things the more common the better,Sack’s but single broth,Ale’s meat, drinke, and cloathe,Say they that know never a letter.

But not to entangleOld friends till they wrangleAnd quarrell for other men’s pleasure;Let Ale keep his place,And let Sack have his grace,So that neither exceed the due measure.

“Wine is but single broth, ale is meat, drink and cloth,” was a proverbial saying in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and occurs in many writings, both prose and poetical. John Taylor, for instance, writes that ale is the “warmest lining of a naked man’s coat.” “Barley broth” and “oyle of barley” were very common expressions for ale. “Dagger ale” was very strong malt liquor. The word “ale-tasters” will be fully explained later on.{10}

The nearest approach in modern times to a denunciation of wine by an ale-favouring poet occurs in a few lines—by whom written we know not—cleverly satirising the introduction of cheap French wines into this country. Cheap clarets command, thanks to an eminent statesman, a considerable share of popular favour. If unadulterated, they are no doubt wholesome enough, and suitable for some specially constituted persons. Let those who like them drink them, by all means.