Old ale

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Old ale, also called stock ale or, archaically, keeping ale, is a style of English beer with a high specific gravity, aged for at least a year and usually ranging from 4% to 12% alcohol by volume.

Historically, old ales served as a complement to mild ales, and in pubs of the era typically the landlord would serve the customer a blend of the sharper stock ale with the fruitier, sweeter mild ale to the customer's taste. In London especially, the aged ale would take on a sour, acetic note from the continuing fermentation in the cask; some brewers now inoculate their old ales with Brettanomyces lambicus, as used in the lambic style, to replicate this. Because of the time required for the aging process, some investors would buy mild ale from brewers, age it into old ale, and sell it at the higher price.

The high initial gravity and long aging time of old ales, some of which reach their peak up to five years after bottling, give old ales a particular depth and complexity and many present strong overtones of raisins and blackcurrants. Old ales are most often bottle-conditioned and as such should be stored upright in a cold dark place and poured gently so as not to allow the bottle's yeast into the glass.