Shakespeare sure did love his ale

This famous painting by Eduard von Grutzner (Falstaff With Pewter And Wine Glass) depicts Falstaff with a glass of his favourite tipple, sherris sack.

One of William Shakespeare’s lines in Henry V goes, “I would give all my fame for a pot of ale”.

While we certainly don’t think that Shakespeare meant that he would personally give up his own fame for some booze, it certainly does indicate that he was familiar with alcoholic drinks. Perhaps a little too well too, judging from this line in Macbeth, which goes “Drink sir, is a great provoker of three things ... nose painting, sleep and urine. Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes; it provokes the desire but takes away the performance”.