 Type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method |
Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method.12 In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.3
This article is about the beer style. For other uses, see Ale (disambiguation).
As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale was originally bittered with gruit, a mixture of herbs or spices boiled in the wort before fermentation, before hops replaced gruit as the bittering agent.4 In England, however, it was also common to brew ale without adding herbs.56