[Sca-cooks] small beer

[Terry Decker]

According to the OED, beer was not in common use in English until the 16th
Century, when the primary difference appears to have been whether it was
hopped or unhopped.  The word later (apparently OOP) came to refer to all
malt beverages.

England was a late adopter of hopping, so the English context may not hold
true in other countries.

Bear

>Bear replied to me with:
>> You also get the question, was it bottom or top fermented?  Ale was
>> traditionally top fermented.  Beer (as in the hopped lagerbier produced
by
>> the Germans) is bottom fermented.
>
> From discussion here and elsewhere, I think the top vs. bottom fermenting
>definition of beer vs. ale is a modern one. The period differance seems to
>be whether hops (or maybe it was any herbs) was added.
>
>
>> It probably doesn't matter, as the encompassing term is beer.  Small beer
>> could easily have begun as an ale and gone on to being a lager as well.
>
>Yes. That is why I raised the question.
>--
>THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra