Old ale
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Old ale, also called stock ale or, archaically, keeping ale, is a style of English beer with a high specific gravity, aged for at least a year and usually ranging from 4% to 12% alcohol by volume.
Historically, old ales served as a complement to mild ales, 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 sour, lactic acid note from the continuing fermentation in the cask; some brewers now inoculate their old ales with Brettanomyces lambicus, as used in the lambic style, to replicate this. 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.
The high initial gravity and long aging time of old ales, some of which reach their peak up to five years after bottling, give old ales a particular depth and complexity and many present strong overtones of raisins and blackcurrants. Old ales are most often bottle-conditioned and as such should be stored upright in a cold dark place and poured gently so as not to allow the bottle's yeast into the glass.
The "October" Keeping Ales are thought to have formed the basis for India Pale Ales shipped by the British East India Company.
Examples of old ales include:
- George Gale: Prize Old Ale
- Theakston's: Old Peculier
- Fuller's: Vintage Ale
- Greene King: Olde Suffolk English Ale
- O'Hanlon's: Thomas Hardy's Ale
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
[edit] Bibliography
Wheeler, Graham, and Roger Protz, Brew Your Own British Real Ale at Home. 1998, 2001, CAMRA Ltd. ISBN 1-85249-138-8
[edit] External links
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