OOP - It's Butterbeer time!

[Tim Regan]

Hi All,

--- In HPforGrownups 
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/66020> digger 
wrote:
 
> In medieval times BUTTERED ALE was a popular drink. 
> Ale (beer brewed without any hops) was heated 
> together with with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. I 
> think this is basically what Butterbeer is.

Thanks Digger, that sounds really scrumptious, and a `must try' for 
Christmas or all winter!

But is that the definition of ale? Most ales I've drunk had hops in. 

Here's the Oxford English Dictionary:

----------
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 mönnum, en 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. 
 
  c940 Sax. Leechd. II. 268 Do healfne bollan ealo to, and ehæte æt 
ealu. c1000 Hept. Judg. xiii. 4 Ne he ealu ne drince nfre oe wín. 
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 13 e man e hit mee riht . e sune ale 
gestninge. 1205 LAYAM. 24440 Ne mai hit na mon suggen on his tale of 
an win and of an ale. a1300 Havelok 14 Fil me a cuppe of ful god 
ale. 1377 LANGL. P. Pl. B. v. 219, I boute hir barly malte • she 
brewe it to selle, Peny ale and podyng ale. 1466 Paston's Funer. in 
Lett. 549 II. 268 For vii barels of bere, xviis. vid.For iiii barels 
of alle, xiiis. iiiid. 1485 MALORY Arthur (1816) II. 445 Wyn & 
aale. ?1531 Plumpton Corr. 230, I am faine to eate browne bread & 
drink small alle. 1535 STEWART Cron. Scotl. II. 660 Of wyne and aill 
takand thame sic ane fill. 1542 BOORDE Dietary x. 256 Ale is made of 
malte and water; and they the whiche do put any other thynge to ale 
than is rehersed, except yest, barme, or godes~good, doth sofysticat 
theyr ale. 1594 PLAT Jewel-ho. III. 16 It is the Hoppe onelie which 
maketh the essential difference betweene Beere and Ale. 1591 SHAKES. 
Two Gent. III. i. 304 Item, she brewes good Ale. 1613  Hen. VIII, V. 
iv. 11 Do you looke for Ale and Cakes heere, you rude raskalls? 1725 
BRADLEY Fam. Dict. s.v. Malt Liquor, Ale is more diuretick than 
Beer; that is, unhopp'd Liquor more than that which has Hops in it. 
1770 J. MASSIE Tax on Malt 8 A Pint of Ale or strong Beer, costs the 
Ale-seller, only Five Farthings. 1853 THACKERAY Eng. Hum. 240 Then 
they sallied forth for Rochester on foot, and drank by the way three 
pots of ale. [1864 TENNYSON North. Farmer, I've 'ed my point o' 
yaäle ivry noight sin' I beän 'ere.]
----------

Wow – the first written usage they quote is 940!

Cheers,

Dumbledad.