Ales

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /eɪlz/

Definitions

1. Various kinds of beer brewed using traditional methods with a distinctive taste
2. Multiple brews of fermented malt beverages typically having a warm flavor and higher carbonation
3. Different types of alcoholic drinks made from malted barley and fermented with yeast to create distinct flavors

Etymology: "Ales" is simply the plural of "ale," so the real story belongs to the singular. Old English had "ealu" (or "ealo"), a word for a fermented malt drink, and it was not the hoppy beer many people associate with the name today. Beer, in the modern sense, was a later arrival in English, and for centuries "ale" was the ordinary word for the brew most people drank. The word's deeper origin is uncertain. Scholars connect it to a group of Germanic words meaning "beer," found in Dutch, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, and some propose a much older root meaning "bitter," which would fit a drink that was not sweet. The Old Norse and Swedish cognates for "beer" show how closely these words were once tied together across the North Sea languages.

Synonyms: beer, brew