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So
THE FLOWING BOWL
the most part of vinegar and dirty water, in
which had been soaked quassia chips, salt, bloater-
heads, and some of the thatch from the roof.
Beer was the current name in England for
every description of malt liquor before the
introduction of " the wicked weed called hops "
from the Netherlands in 1524. According to
the Alvhmal^ a didactic Scandinavian poem of
the tenth century, this malt liquor was called ale
amongst men, and beer by the gods ; and it was
probably from this Scandinavian poem that the
author of the anything-but-didactic poem quoted
above got his ideas as to the real nature of the
beverage partaken of on Olympus.
In the
Eastern counties of England, and over the greater
part of the kingdom, ale signifies strong, and beer
small, malt liquor, but in the West these names
mean exactly the reverse—which must be con
fusing in the extreme to the intelligent foreigner
on his travels in search of facts and—refreshment.
As now .used, ale is distinguished from beer I
am alluding to the more civilized parts of our
country—chiefly by its strength, and by the
quantity of sugar remaining in it undecomposed.
Strong ale is made from the best pale malt and
the fermentation is allowed to proceed slowly,
and the ferment to be exhausted and separated.
This, together with the large quantity of sugar
still left undecomposed, enables the liquor to
keep long, without requiring a large amount of
hops.
The last few lines may give the reader the
impression that the writer served his time in
Burton-on-Trent; but this is not the case. I