What's up with Scottish Dwarves?!?

[occam]

I don't have the OED handy but here is a quote from Wikipedia:

Before the introduction of hops into England from the Netherlands in the 15th century the name “ale” was exclusively applied to unhopped fermented beverages, the term “beer” being gradually introduced to describe a brew with an infusion of hops.

Which is why I find the idea of a Medieval Scotsman, Dwarvish or not, drinking beer to be anachronistic.

OK, but that's a pretty confusing distinction for those familiar with modern usage, in which beverages made from fermented grain are "beer", whether hopped or unhopped, and "ale" is a broad class of beer brewed at warmer temperatures with (usually) top-fermenting yeast, which describes almost all beer made before the 19th century. Given this usage, "ale" and "beer" are practically synonymous in a medieval context (unless magic is used to cool brews to lagering temperatures), and you could just as easily say those Scotsmen and dwarves are drinking beer as say they're drinking ale.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I don't have the OED handy but here is a quote from Wikipedia:

Which is why I find the idea of a Medieval Scotsman, Dwarvish or not, drinking beer to be anachronistic.

Well, it depends on who's saying "beer," doesn't it? Currently, the word describes any fermented, undistilled beverage made from grain carbohydrates, as opposed to fruit carbohydrates or honey carbohydrates. So when I say that medieval Scots drank beer, I'm correct, despite the fact that they wouldn't have called it that. Of course, these definitional issues break down when you go back far enough or start looking at areas other than the English-speaking parts of the British Isles. Those people probably don't call it beer either. What's the word for beer in Yiddish, anyway?