Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A fermented alcoholic beverage containing malt and hops, similar to but heavier than beer.
  • noun A serving of this beverage.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A light-colored beer, made from malt which is dried at a low heat. See beer.
  • noun An ale-drinking; a festival or merrymaking at which ale was the beverage drunk.
  • noun A brew of ale; as much ale as is brewed at one time.
  • noun An ale-house.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An intoxicating liquor made from an infusion of malt by fermentation and the addition of a bitter, usually hops.
  • noun A festival in English country places, so called from the liquor drunk.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An intoxicating liquor made from an infusion of malt by fermentation and the addition of a bitter, usually hops.
  • noun A festival in English country places, so called from the liquor drunk.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the United States an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English ealu, alu; see alu- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English ealu, ealo, from Proto-Germanic *aluþ (compare Dutch aal, Swedish öl), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elu- ‘bitter’ (compare Latin alum ‘comfrey’, alūta ‘tawed leather’, Polish (Eastern) jełki, iłki ‘rancid’, Ancient Greek alýdimos ‘bitter’ and Albanian all ("reddish colour")).

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Examples

  • Formerly, brewers made ale only twice a year, -- the _summer ale_ in

    The Proverbs of Scotland Alexander Hislop 1836

  • One such pumpkin ale is the Pumpkin Ale from Southampton Publick House.

    Long Island Beer Events 2009

  • One such pumpkin ale is the Pumpkin Ale from Southampton Publick House.

    LENNDEVOURS: 2008

  • One such pumpkin ale is the Pumpkin Ale from Southampton Publick House.

    Donavan Hall 2008

  • One such pumpkin ale is the Pumpkin Ale from Southampton Publick House.

    Holloween Costume Firkin Friday at DEKS in Rocky Point 2008

  • The brewing process for the ale is the same, but just as the primary fermentation slows, the beer is transferred from the fermenter to a cask where it continues to ferment or condition.

    Long Island Beer Events 2009

  • The brewing process for the ale is the same, but just as the primary fermentation slows, the beer is transferred from the fermenter to a cask where it continues to ferment or condition.

    Donavan Hall 2008

  • The brewing process for the ale is the same, but just as the primary fermentation slows, the beer is transferred from the fermenter to a cask where it continues to ferment or condition.

    Long Island Beer Event: Cask Night at Deks - Firkin Friday 2007

  • There was a coldness in the civility of Mrs Adams which persons of accurate speculation might have observed, but escaped her present guests; indeed, it was a good deal covered by the heartiness of Adams, who no sooner heard that Fanny had neither eat nor drank that morning than he presented her a bone of bacon he had just been gnawing, being the only remains of his provision, and then ran nimbly to the tap, and produced a mug of small beer, which he called ale; however, it was the best in his house.

    Joseph Andrews, Volume 2 Henry Fielding 1730

  • Real ale is enjoying a revival, a report reveals today, as younger drinkers and women embrace a drink which may be shedding its traditional "flat cap" image.

    Real ale revival continues as women and young buy more Rebecca Smithers 2010

Comments

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  • Was raw tap ale not a reviver at one lap at Warsaw?

    October 18, 2008

  • Means "discount" in Finnish.

    July 13, 2009

  • X-word clues: "draft pick" & "inn-take".

    September 27, 2009

  • Usage and recipe (of a sort) in comment on spiced ale and more on clarry.

    December 2, 2016