“通过麦芽发酵制作的酒精饮料”，古英语中是 ealu（意为“麦酒、啤酒”），源自原始日耳曼语 *aluth-（同源词还有古撒克逊语的 alo 和古诺尔斯语的 öl），其起源尚不明确。可能来自一个意为“苦”的原始印欧词根（同源于拉丁语的 alumen，意为“明矾”），或者来自原始印欧语 *alu-t（意为“麦酒”），其词根 *alu- 具有“巫术、魔法、附身和醉酒”的含义 [Watkins]。这个词从日耳曼语借入了立陶宛语（alus）和古教会斯拉夫语（olu）。
In the fifteenth century, and until the seventeenth, ale stood for the unhopped fermented malt liquor which had long been the native drink of these islands. Beer was the hopped malt liquor introduced from the Low Countries in the fifteenth century and popular first of all in the towns. By the eighteenth century, however, all malt liquor was hopped and there had been a silent mutation in the meaning of the two terms. For a time the terms became synonymous, in fact, but local habits of nomenclature still continued to perpetuate what had been a real difference: 'beer' was the malt liquor which tended to be found in towns, 'ale' was the term in general use in the country districts. [Peter Mathias, "The Brewing Industry in England," Cambridge University Press, 1959]
在十五世纪，直到十七世纪，ale 指的是未加啤酒花的发酵麦芽酒，这一直是这些岛屿上的本土饮品。啤酒则是从低地国家引入的加了啤酒花的麦芽酒，最初在城镇中颇受欢迎。然而到了十八世纪，所有的麦芽酒都加了啤酒花，这两个词的含义也悄然发生了变化。实际上，这两个词一度变得同义，但地方上的命名习惯仍然延续了它们之间的真实差异：在城镇中，人们通常称之为“啤酒”，而在乡村地区则普遍使用“麦酒”这个词。[彼得·马修斯，《英格兰的酿酒业》，剑桥大学出版社，1959年]
在古英语中，“节日或欢聚会，饮用大量麦酒”这一含义也存在（参见 bridal）。
