https://www.brewersofpa.org/alternatives-to-hops/
Almost all beers had some sort of preservative adjunct.
I tried a very small batch with no hops and it did not taste like beer. Was malty. No bitterness. Bland. It went bad very quickly. Only had a few bottles before it turned into swill.
Fun fact: IPAs were so heavily hopped so they would survive the long trip from GB to India jostled all the way on the high seas.
During WWII, the British had a brewery ship.
For the Pacific.
I seem to remember that it made its first batch or batch was ready on VJ day or thereabouts.
That’s WHY they are called INDIA pale ales.