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
Ale Houses Act 1551 35 of the Alehouse Act 1828 (9 Geo.4 c.61). Ale Houses Act 1551 The Ale Houses Act 1551 (5 & 6 Edw. 6 c. 25), or "An Act for Keepers of Ale-houses to be bound by Recognisances", sometimes the Licensing Act 1551, was an Act of the Parliament of England passed in 1552. It was passed to control the "abuses and disorders as are had and used in common ale-houses", and laid the foundation of modern licensing law. It provided that the Justices of the Peace were given power within their jurisdiction to stop the common selling of ale and