Sombre amusement before old English ale is finished off (8)
I believe the answer is:
funereal
'sombre' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'amusement before old english ale is finished off' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'amusement' could be 'fun' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'fun' is found in the answer.
'before' could be 'ere' (poetic term for 'before') and 'ere' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for funereal that I've seen before include "Gloomy" , "Of sombre character" , "Of the ritual of the dead" .)