α. Middle English ale cunnere, 1500s–1600s ale cunner; also Scottish pre-1700 aill cunnar, pre-1700 aill kwnar, pre-1700 all cwnar.
β. late Middle English–1500s ale konner, late Middle English– ale conner, 1600s ale coner.
ale connern.
/ˈeɪl ˌkɒnə/, U.S. /ˈeɪl ˌkɑnər/ Now chiefly historical.
An officer appointed by a court leet or other local authority to test for the assize (assize n. 4) the ale brewed (and sometimes the bread baked) in his or her jurisdiction. Cf. aletaster n., alefounder n. N.E.D. (1884) notes: ‘Still a titular office in some burghs’. The office survives in London on a ceremonial basis.Recorded earliest as a surname.
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the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > brewing > [noun] > brewer > inspector of ale
ale conner1288
aletasterc1430
alefounder1483
1288 Close Roll, 16 Edward I (P.R.O.: C 54/105) m. 7 Walteri le Alecunnere.
1460 Extracts Rec. in W. Chambers Charters Burgh Peebles (1872) 138 Thir ar the all cwnarris.
1467 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 382 (MED) Ale conners..to se that the ale be good and sete.
1479 R. Ricart Maire of Bristowe is Kalendar (1872) 83 The Maire hath be vsid to walke in the morenynges to the Brewers howses..and his Alekonner with hym, to taste and vndirstand that the ale be gode, able, and sety.
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. iii. iv. f. 105v/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I In Villages they are commonly made Church wardens Sidemen, Aleconners, Constables, & many tymes enioye the name of hedborowghes.
1630 Tincker of Turvey Ep. Ded. sig. A 2v The Antenticall drinke of England, the whole Barmy-Tribe of Ale-Cunners neuer layd their lips to the like.
1683 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 278 Some of the liveries of the companies mett, and..chose..Mr. Welling to be aleconner.
1705 Moderator 16 May 2/2 He calls him Ale-Conner, Bull-Dog, Horse-racing, swearing, drunken, Jacobite-brewer.
1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 403 Four aleconners, and four flesh-tasters.
1859 H. T. Riley Munimenta Gildhallæ Londoniensis I. Introd. p. lxi Immediately a brewing was finished, it was the duty of the brewer..to send for the Ale-conner of the Ward, in order to taste the ale.
1876 Encycl. Brit. I. 476 In London four aleconners are still chosen annually by the liverymen in common hall assembled on Midsummer Day.
1913 J. D. Wilson Life in Shakespeare's Eng. 282/1 Shakespeare's father was made ale-conner of Stratford in 1557.
1944 Econ. Jrnl. 54 106 The officers of the manor court, the hayward, the ale-conners, the cow and sheep herds, were appointed at the meetings of the court.
2010 Times 13 May 50/5 The City already has its own tester, or Ale Conner, sworn in at an ancient ceremony involving sitting in a trough of beer wearing leather trousers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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