caloric than they were 200 years ago.
Food Words: Ale and Beer; Brew
The original English word for a fermented
barley drink was not beer, but ale. It
apparently derives from the effects of
alcohol; the Indo-European root of ale had
to do with intoxication, magic, and sorcery,
and may be related to a root meaning “to
wander, to be in exile.” The alternative
name, beer, comes via Latin from a much
more prosaic connection: its root is the
word for “to drink.” Brew is related to
bread, broil, braise, and ferment; they all
come from an Indo-European root meaning
“to boil, to bubble, to effervesce.”Beer in America The U.S. preference for
light, even characterless brews would seem to
be the result of climate and history. Heavy
beer is less refreshing when the summers get
as hot as ours do. And the original British