Old ale is a form of

strong ale Strong ale is a type of ale, usually above 5% abv and often higher, between 7% to 11% abv, which spans a number of beer styles, including old ale, barley wine and Burton ale. Strong ales are brewed throughout Europe and beyond, including in Engl ...

. The term is commonly applied to dark, malty beers in England, generally above 5%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

, and also to dark ales of any strength in Australia. It is sometimes associated with ''stock ale'' or, archaically, ''keeping ale'', in which the beer is held at the brewery. In modern times, the line has blurred between Old Ale and

Barley wine Barley wine is a strong ale between 6–12% alcohol by volume."Barley wine"

mild ale Mild ale is a type of ale. Modern milds are mostly dark-coloured, with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 3% to 3.6%, although there are lighter-hued as well as stronger milds, reaching 6% abv and higher. Mild originated in Britain in the 17th century ...

s, and in pubs of the era typically the landlord would serve the customer a blend of the sharper stock ale with the fruitier, sweeter mild ale to the customer's taste. In London especially, the aged ale would take on a tart note from a secondary fermentation with

brettanomyces ''Brettanomyces'' is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name ''Dekkera'' is used interchangeably with ''Brettanomyces'', as it describes the teleomorph ...

yeast which was present either in the pitching yeast or in the wooden equipment. Because of the time required for the aging process, some investors would buy mild ale from brewers, age it into old ale, and sell it at the higher price. Eventually, brewers began to keep some beer behind at the brewery, age it themselves and sell it to the pubs. In some cases old ale was a blend of young and old. The "stock ale" was the brewery's very aged ale and was used to inject an "old" quality, and perhaps acidity to the blend.

Burton Ale

In London especially, Burton was a synonym for old ale.

Winter warmer

A ''winter warmer'' is a traditional malty-sweet strong ale that is brewed in the winter months. It is usually quite dark, but not as dark as a

stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...

, with a big malt presence. Sometimes, winter warmers have a few spices, especially in the United States, although spices are not a required ingredient in a winter warmer. The primary characteristic is strength: the average alcohol content by volume ranges from 6.0% to 8.0% ABV and some winter warmers reach 10% ABV or more. Christmas beer is another type of winter warmer, similarly strong in alcohol content and usually spiced. The United Kingdom is most commonly associated with the term "winter warmer", whereas the United States mostly refers to them as a Christmas or Holiday beer.

Variations

Some brewers will make a strong old ale for bottling. Some of these can mature for several years after bottling, and may or may not be bottle-conditioned. The "October" keeping ales are thought to have formed the basis for India pale ales shipped by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. Another historic version was so-called "majority ale", a strong ale brewed on or around the birth of a child, and intended to be drunk on the child's twenty-first birthday. Some old ales blended older vintages with fresh beer in vats, on the

solera ''Solera'' is a process for aging liquids such as wine, beer, vinegar, and brandy, by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many ...

system. Burton Ale brewed by the Ballantine brewery (

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Greene King Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019. ...

5X and The Bruery's anniversary ales. Sour old ales fermented with ''

Brettanomyces ''Brettanomyces'' is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name ''Dekkera'' is used interchangeably with ''Brettanomyces'', as it describes the teleomorph ...

'' yeast were popular in 19th-century Britain. The style is now associated more with

Belgian brewing Beer in Belgium includes pale ales, lambics, Flemish red ales, sour brown ales, strong ales and stouts. In 2018, there were 304 active breweries in Belgium, including international companies, such as AB InBev, and traditional breweries inclu ...

, for instance

Oud bruin Oud Bruin (Old Brown), also known as Flanders Brown, is a style of beer originating from the Flemish region of Belgium. The Dutch name refers to the long aging process, up to a year. It undergoes a secondary fermentation, which takes several weeks ...

and

Rodenbach Rodenbach may refer to: * Rodenbach Brewery, a brewery from Roeselare, Belgium Places * Rodenbach, Hesse, in the Main-Kinzig district, Hesse, Germany * Rodenbach, Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Ger ...

Grand Cru, although there is one surviving British example, Gales Prize Old Ale. A number of breweries, particularly in Sussex, produce a weaker style of old ale with some resemblance to a

. Examples include

King and Barnes {{no footnotes, date=March 2013 King and Barnes was a family-owned English brewery in Horsham, Sussex. History The brewery, founded around 1800 as Satchell & Co., was later bought out by maltster James King and renamed King & Sons. In 1906, anot ...

(later W. J King) (4.5% ABV) and Harveys (4.3% ABV) These are typically consumed on draught dispense.

Notes

References

Bibliography

*Wheeler, Graham, and Roger Protz, ''Brew Your Own British Real Ale at Home''. 1998, 2001, CAMRA Ltd.

External links

CAMRA description of Old Ale
{{Beer Styles Beer styles Beer in the United Kingdom