Article on the French beer (3)
I believe the answer is:
ale
'beer' is the definition.
(type of beer)
'article on the french' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'a'+'le'='ALE'
(Other definitions for ale that I've seen before include "Intoxicating drink" , "Similar to beer" , "Beer consumed in sales" , "brew" , "Beer consumed in chalets" .)