 One recent attempt to recreate medieval English "strong ale" using recipes and techniques of the era (albeit with the use of modern yeast strains) yielded a strongly alcoholic brew with original gravity of 1.091 (corresponding to a potential alcohol content over 9%) and "pleasant, apple-like taste".The ancient Greeks and Romans knew of the technique of distillation, but it was not practiced on a major scale in Europe until some time around the 12th century, when Arabic innovations in the field combined with water-cooled glass alembics were introduced.Distillation was believed by medieval scholars to produce the essence of the liquid being purified, and the term "aqua vitae" ("water of life") was used as a generic term for all kinds of distillates.