The Difference Between Ale and Beer

Beer and Ayl were the basic beverage that people in Northern Europe drank. People didn't drink water unless they had to, turned milk into cheese - so beer was their basic beverage. Medieval brewers knew how to make strong beers but average beers for daily consumption were pretty weak. The English continue to drink ale without hops well into the early modern period. But it takes a long time for the English to entirely give up on hoptail.