Grahamt on 9 May 2003  •  Link

Difference between Ale and Beer:
Officially beer is hopped and ale isn't, but that distinction isn't strictly observed. Hops preserve beer, as well as giving it its bitter flavour. Kent is the region of England famed for its hops, but Pepys talks of Margate (in Kent) ale as though it is famous, so the difference seems already to have been lost by 1660. (why brew a hopless ale in a hop growing region?)
Nowadays ale is used to refer to top fermented bitter (British) beers, as compared to bottom fermented lager (American, German, Australian, etc.) beers. That meaning would not have been valid in Pepys' time as true lagers only appeared in the 19th century

vincent on 12 May 2003  •  Link

"Hour for lunch for the working man"
1604-10 'Legislation in 1604 specifically permitted labourers and handicraftsmen to stop work for an hour at dinner time "to take their diet in an alehouse. In 1606-7 there were acts against drunkenness and against brewers selling to unlicensed tipplers, with further regulation in 1610.' Mainly tinkering with the 1552 Act. (Clark, p.172)
1618 James I. Sunday hours 1st legislated - 'closure of alehouses during the hours of divine services' (Barr, p.148). from http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cs/t…

Leslie Silberhans on 19 Jan 2004  •  Link

Difference between Ale and Beer:
This is one of those vexing philological questions. There was a period during which a hopped brew would be called 'beer', but this was because the idea of hopping came from Germany. 'Beer' is German, 'ale', English. This was not the definition of the word, however, simply a common referent. The two words are basically synonymous, like 'garbanzos' and 'chickpeas'.

Sjoerd on 10 Jun 2004  •  Link

"Home-made drinks of England are beer and ale, strong and small; those of most note, that are to be sold, are Lambeth ale, Margaret ale, and Derby ale; Herefordshire cider, perry, mede. There are also several sorts of compounded ales, as cock-ale, wormwood-ale, lemon-ale, scurvygrass-ale, college-ale, &c. These are to be had at Hercules Pillars, near the Temple; at the Trumpet, and other houses in Sheer Lane, Bell Alley, and, as I remember, at the English Tavern, near Charing Cross"

From "Life of John Locke", 1679

see http://www.gutenberg.net/1/1/2/3/…

Pedro on 7 Dec 2005  •  Link

Epsum ale and Spruce beer.

"At the "Angel and Sun," in the Strand, near Strand Bridge, is to be sold every day, fresh Epsum-water, Barnet-water, and Tunbridge-water; Epsumale, and Spruce-beer'—1664."

Curious advertisements, the Book of Days.

in Aqua Scripto on 6 Feb 2006  •  Link

OED:Forms: 1 alu (WS. ealu, ealo), 2- ale (5 aale, aylle, 5-6 alle, Sc. 6-7 ail, aill; in mod. dial. yale, yall, yaäle, yell, yill).

1. An intoxicating liquor made from an infusion of malt by fermentation. Various ingredients have at various times been added to impart flavour; at present hops or other bitters are in use.
Ale and beer seem originally to have been synonymous. The Alvismál says ‘öl heitir me Ásum bjórr,’ it is called ‘ale’ among men, and among the gods ‘beer.’ After the introduction into England of ‘the wicked weed called hops’ (Retn. to Edw. VI's Parlt.) c 1524, ‘beer’ was commonly hopped; at present ‘beer’ is in the trade the generic name for all malt liquors, ‘ale’ being specifically applied to the paler coloured kinds, the malt for which has not been roasted or burnt; but the popular application of the two words varies in different localities.
first entree.: 940 Sax. Leechd. II. 268 Do healfne bollan ealo ehæte ALT={th}" æt ealu.
ale-barrel, a barrel for ale, a measure of 36 (formerly 32) gallons
Also ale be mixed with other major Ingredeints like Cock-Ale [Chicken broth] see feb 5th 06

San Diego Sarah on 3 Feb 2019  •  Link

Cock ale is different from normal ale: a rooster was cooked in ale, and somehow distilled into a drink which was very popular ... as an aphrodisiac. More on the subject at

https://www.atlasobscura.com/arti…

San Diego Sarah on 9 Mar 2020  •  Link

BUTTER ALE

Several times in the Diary Pepys mentions drinking butter ale for a cold.

Robert May in "The Accomplish't Cook" in 1660 described it:

"Take beer or ale and boil it, then scum it, and put to it some liquorish and anniseeds, boil them well together; then have in a clean flaggon or quart pot some yolks of eggs well beaten with some of the foresaid beer, and some good butter; strain your butter'd beer, put it in the flaggon, and brew it with the butter and eggs."

I'm sticking to my hot toddy, thank you.

San Diego Sarah on 5 Oct 2024  •  Link

CHINA ALE:

On Oct. 4, 1661, Pepys says he drank China Ale.

"Production and consumption of beer in China has occurred for around 9,000 years, with recent archaeological findings showing that Chinese villagers were brewing beer-type alcoholic drinks as far back as 7000 BC on small and individual scales.
Made with rice, honey, grape, and hawthorn fruits, this early beer seems to have been produced similarly to that of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Ancient Chinese beer was important in ancestral worship, funeral and other rituals of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, ...
After the Han dynasty, Chinese beer faded from prominence, which remained the case for the next 2,000 years

"Modern beer brewing was not introduced into China until the end of 19th century, when Polish people established a brewery ..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee…

In 2016 the KPBS newsletter, 'The Salt' agreed, with a different recipe:
"Archaeologists uncovered ancient beer-making tool kits in underground rooms built between 3400 and 2900 B.C. Discovered at a dig site in the Central Plain of China, the kits included funnels, pots and specialized jugs. The shapes of the objects suggest they could be used for brewing, filtration and storage.

"It's the oldest beer-making facility ever discovered in China — and the evidence indicates that these early brewers were already using specialized tools and advanced beer-making techniques

"The scientists found a pottery stove, which the ancient brewers would have heated to break down carbohydrates to sugar. And the brewery's underground location was important for both storing beer and controlling temperature — too much heat can destroy the enzymes responsible for that carb-to-sugar conversion ...

"The research group found ancient grains that had lingered inside. The grains showed evidence that they had been damaged by malting and mashing, two key steps in beer-making. Residue from inside the uncovered pots and funnels was tested with ion chromatography to find out what the ancient beer was made of ...

"The recipe included a mix of fermented grains: broomcorn millet, barley and Job's tears, a chewy Asian grain also known as Chinese pearl barley. The recipe also called for tubers, the starchy and sugary parts of plants, which were added to sweeten and flavor the beer, the researchers write.

"Finding evidence of barley in the beer was surprising. Scientists had never seen barley in China this early before.

"The Chinese became brewmasters early: They were making barley beer in the same period as "the earliest chemically attested barley beer from Iran" and the "earliest beer-mashing facilities in Egypt," as well as "the earliest wine-making facility in Armenia," he writes in an email. ..."
https://www.npr.org/sections/thes…

What Pepys was drinking? I think "China Ale" was an early brand name, and it had nothing to do with China.

San Diego Sarah on 5 Oct 2024  •  Link

After further research, it appears China Beer was probably brewed from the Chobchini root which was exported from China ... hense the name. It has many medicinal values:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…