[Red Badger]

There was a time in the US, early to mid 1800’s, when ‘beer’ was the favorite breakfast drink for all Americans...........mainly because the waters would kill you............

[chajin]

There was a time in the US, early to mid 1800’s, when ‘beer’ was the favorite breakfast drink for all Americans...........mainly because the waters would kill you............

That's also why the ancient Greeks had krater, the enormous bowls where water was mixed with wine: the grape juice gave the water some flavor, and the alcohol gave the water some potability.

[SamAdams76]

During Colonial times and well into the 1800s, beer and cider were consumed all day long and considered as normal a beverage as we consider water and coffee today. That is to say, people drank it for breakfast, drank it at work and drank it when they came home.

John Adams (who lived to be 90) would start his day with a tankard of hard cider and then a brisk 4-5 mile walk.