Wine and beer effectively kill off bacteria and have always been common as everyday drink.
In the colonies people, including children, drank apple cider with about 5% alcohol content. This was the rule until the Germans came in with their lagers which were much better and they became the drink of choice.
Which gives a new meaning to Johnny Appleseed’s quest to plant more apple trees.
I wonder if that story is taught to today's children as part of American history? John Chapman was an itinerant preacher who traveled about holding services, and carrying a bag of dried apple cores with which to plant apple trees wherever he went. There was a Disney movie about him back in the '50s that will NEVER be shown on TV today, probably because of this song:
The Lord is good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need,
The sun, the rain and the apple seed,
The Lord is good to me.