ale

/ayl/, n.

1. a malt beverage, darker, heavier, and more bitter than beer, containing about 6 percent alcohol by volume.

2. Brit. beer.

[bef. 950; ME; OE (e)alu (gen. ealoth); c. OS alo-, MD ale, ael, ON ol; Lith alùs, OCS olu; Finnish, Estonian olut; areal word of North Europe]

* * *

Fermented malt beverage, full-bodied and somewhat bitter, with strong flavour of hops.

Until the 17th century it was an unhopped brew of yeast, water, and malt, beer being the same brew with hops added. Modern ale (now largely synonymous with beer) is made with top-fermenting yeast and processed at higher temperatures than lager beer. Pale ale has up to 5% alcohol content; the darker strong ale contains up to 6.5%.

* * *

      fermented malt beverage, full-bodied and somewhat bitter, with strong flavour and aroma of hops (hop). Popular in England, where the term is now synonymous with beer, ale was until the late 17th century an unhopped brew of yeast, water, and malt, beer being the same brew with hops added. Modern ale, usually brewed with water rich in calcium sulfate, is made with top-fermenting yeast and processed at higher temperatures than the lager beers popular in the United States. Pale ale has up to 5 percent alcohol content; the darker strong ale contains up to 6.5 percent.

* * *