Strong ale is a type of

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

, usually above 5%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

and often higher, between 7 and 11% abv, which spans a number of

beer style Beer styles differentiate and categorise beers by colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin. The modern concept of beer styles is largely based on the work of writer Michael Jackson in his 1977 book ...

s, including

old ale Old ale is a form of strong ale. The term is commonly applied to dark, malty beers in England, generally above 5% ABV, and also to dark ales of any strength in Australia. It is sometimes associated with ''stock ale'' or, archaically, ''keeping a ...

barley wine Barley wine is a strong ale from 6–12% alcohol by volume."Barley wine"
Michael Jackson (writ ...

, and Burton ale. Strong ales are brewed throughout Europe and beyond, including in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Scotch ale was first used as a designation for strong ales exported from

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in the 18th century. Scotch ale is sometimes termed "wee heavy". A recipe for an unhopped Scotch ale can be found in the 17th-century cookery book ''

The Closet Opened ''The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt. Opened'', commonly known as ''The Closet Opened'', is an English cookery book first printed in 1669. The title page states that it is based upon the writings of Sir Kenelm Digby, "pub ...

''. The strong ale described in John Mortimer's ''The whole Art of Husbandry'' (1708) was made from a ratio of eleven

bushels A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an imperial and US customary unit of volume, based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was used mostly for agricultural products, such as wheat: in modern usage, the volume is nom ...

of malt to a

hogshead A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large Barrel (storage), cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commercial Product (business), product) for manufacturing and sale. It refers to a specified volume, measured in either Imperial ...

., quote: "The proportion of Hops may be half a Pound to an Hogshead of Strong-Ale, one Pound to an Hogshead of ordinary Strong-Beer to be soon drunk out, and two Pounds to an Hogshead of ''March'' or ''October'' Beer".

References

Types of beer {{beer-stub

See also

References