Adam's ale

Attested 1643.[1] Reference to the only drink available to Adam, the first man in the biblical tradition, while in Eden.

Adam's ale (uncountable)

1. (humorous, idiomatic) Water.

   Synonym: Adam's wine

   • 1643, William Prynne, “The Soveraigne Power of Parliaments & Kingdomes. […]”, in The Soveraigne Power of Parliaments and Kingdomes: […], London: […] Michael Sparke Senior, →OCLC, page 32:

     [T]hey have beene ſhut up in priſons and dungeons lying on the cold ground, ſtones or boards without beds, ſtraw, fire or any the leaſt refreſhment; allowed onely a poore pittance of Adams Ale, and ſcarce a penny bread a day to ſupport their lives, though their friends would provide it for them; [...]

   • 2017, Fiona Farrell, Decline and Fall on Savage Street, →ISBN, page 59:

     She had loaded Floss into the basket, tied a sugarbag containing necessities—sketch pad, pencils, corned beef sandwiches wrapped in newsprint, a bottle of water from the garden tap, the best water, the clearest, Adam's ale — to the frame of her bicycle and set off, Floss sits up in the basket, looking ahead, though of course she can't see, but her nose is up, her world a dizzy palette of smell, as clear and bright as it is to Sybil, pedalling carefully along the river and down Fitzgerald Avenue towards the hills.

• alamedas, salaamed