Ale to the selling of beer labeled "strong beer" that had actually been diluted with small beer. In medieval times, ale may have been safer to drink than most water (the germ theory of disease was unheard of, and the sterilizing properties of boiling unknown); however, there is no period evidence that people were aware of this nor that they chose to drink ale for this reason. The alcohol, hops, and some ingredients in gruit used to preserve some ales may have contributed to their lower load of pathogens, when compared to water. However, ale was largely safer due to the
Pale ale £3-10-0 (spoken as "three pound ten"), or £4, the use of values in shillings and pence only was somewhat more common than saying 300p, 350p and 400p in decimal £p currency.) Scotch ale is sometimes conflated with the term "wee heavy", as both are used to describe a strong beer. Examples of beers brewed in the US under the name "wee heavy" tend to be 7% abv and higher, while Scottish-brewed examples, such as Belhaven's Wee Heavy, are between 5.5% and 6.5% abv. McEwan's Scotch Ale is also 8% abv. In North East England, "best Scotch" refers to a beer