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 for beer of the type described abroad as "Scotch ale", are "light", "heavy", and "export", also referred to in "shilling categories" as "60/-", "70/-" and "80/-" respectively, dating back to a 19th century method of invoicing beers according to their strengths. The "/-" was the symbol used for "shillings exactly", that is, shillings and zero pence, in the pre-decimal £sd British currency, so the names are read as "60 (or 70 or 80) shilling (or bob) ale". (Although it was normal to express values over £1 in terms of pounds, shillings and pence, which would give, in this example, £3,