Ivy-ale and Chop-houses

[tgarnsl]

 I've been doing some reading (as you do) about 18th/19th century dining, and I came across this fascinating bit of trivia: apparently at certain chop-houses, roast beef was served with "gill-ale", which is an ale made with ground ivy (from what I've read, in place of hops.) Now, of course, it's very difficult to find such a thing nowadays, but BUT I have found that apparently Lincoln College, Oxford serves it on May 25th to students of Brasenose!

(For the record, I don't know if it actually contains ivy, but the tradition is it does. That being said, All Souls no longer does their Duck Hunt with a real duck, so we shall see.)

Comments

[sanguinity]

Everything I know about this topic I learned from the Tudor Farm season of the Historical Farm series, but...

My understanding is that ale doesn't have hops, and consequently has a short shelf life and is meant to be drunk fresh. Beer, on the other hand, does have hops, which acts as a preservative, and thus has a very long shelf life. (Which is why beer was a staple beverage for the Royal Navy, how little you hear about it.)

Which brings me to my question: is the ivy meant to be a preservative, so that gill-ale is a de facto beer?

And I'm curious, what part of the ivy is ground up, did they say?