The virtues of Saxon ale have already been commemorated, at pp. [66-68]. We return to the subject, at a later period.
"It may be remarked," says Mr. Hudson Turner, "that in the thirteenth century the English had no certain principle as to the grain best suited for brewing. A roll of household expenses of the Countess of Leicester shows that Beer was made indiscriminately of barley, wheat, and oats, and sometimes of a mixture of all. As the Hop was not used we may conjecture that the produce of their brewing was rather insipid, and not calculated for long keeping: it was drunk as soon as made. To remove the mawkish flatness of such beer it was customary to flavour it with spices and other strong ingredients: long pepper continued to be used for this purpose some time after the introduction of hops. The period at which the last-named plant became an ingredient of English beer is not precisely known. It was cultivated from a very early date in Flanders and Belgium, where it was both employed in brewing, and eaten in salads; and from those countries it was imported into England while the produce of our own hop-grounds was inconsiderable. It would appear, however, that Hops were used in this country for brewing, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, as Gilbert Kymer, in his Dietary, pronounces beer brewed from barley, and well hopped, also of middling strength, thin and clear, well fined, well boiled, and neither too new or too old, to be a sound and wholesome beverage. It is pretty certain, nevertheless, that in his time the hop was not grown in England. In ancient days brewing was almost solely managed by women, and till the close of the fifteenth century the greater part of the beer-houses in London were kept by females who brewed what they sold."
Ale, the favourite drink of our Saxon forefathers, has been described as a thick, sweet, unhopped liquor, and as such distinguished from our modern hopped "beer." Gerard says: "The manifold virtues in hops do manifestly argue the wholesomeness of beer above ale;" and conjectures that the origin of this distinction may be due to the use of the word beer in the Low Countries, from which hops were introduced. It would appear, however, that beer was known in this country, and specified as such, before the use of hops; which were not imported till 1524, other bitters having supplied their place.
There is an ancient rhyme which says,—
"Turkeys, Carps, Hops, Piccarel, and Beer,
Came into England all in one year."
The year when all these good things are supposed to have been introduced, was somewhere in the early part of the reign of King Henry VIII. But it is evident that as early as 1440, when the Parvulorum Promptorium was compiled, the use of hops was not altogether unknown. Mr. Albert Way supposes that at that time hopped beer was either imported from abroad or brewed by foreigners. And this supposition is certainly supported by the Promptorium.
The great hop county of Kent produced better ale than any other; and the large quantity of ale found in the cellars of the Kentish gentry, had much to do with fomenting Jack Cade's rebellion, which arose in Kent.
Unhopped ale, having no bitter principle, would easily run into acetous fermentation. And this is the reason why, in old family receipt-books, we find that our great-grandmothers were in the habit of using alegar where, by the cooks of the present day, vinegar is employed.
In modern usage the distinction between Ale and Beer is different in various parts of the country. But originally, the distinction was very clearly marked: Ale being a liquor brewed from malt, to be drunk fresh; Beer, a liquor brewed from malt and hops, intended to keep.
The above distinction is clearly observed in Johnson's Dictionary, where ale is defined, "A liquor made by infusing malt in hot water, and then fermenting the liquor:" Beer, "Liquor made from malt and hops;" "distinguished from ale either by being older or smaller." Ale thus defined answers to the description given by Tacitus of the drink of the ancient Germans. The ancient Spaniards had a somewhat similar drink, called by them Celia.