Noun
four ale (countable and uncountable, plural four ales)
(obsolete) Alternative form of four-ale
(obsolete) A cheap ale, sold at fourpence per quart
1867, “Bill Bank's Day Out”, in Andrew Halliday, editor, The Savage-Club Papers, page 217:I ain't going to have him a-coming here any more asking me to go for his dirty pots of four-ale and screws of tobacco […]
1888 October 13, “Adulteration”, in texts Saturday review of politics, literature, science and art, volume 66, number 1720, page 435:[…] some of the mixture known to the working-man as "four ale," and obtained in the same locality as the porter.
(obsolete) Ellipsis of four-ale bar.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgfour-ale