<P> Alcoholic beverages played an important role in the Thirteen Colonies from their early days . For example, the Mayflower shipped more beer than water when it departed for the New World in 1620 . While this may seem strange viewed from the modern context, note that drinking wine and beer at that time was safer than drinking water - which was usually taken from sources also used to dispose of sewage and garbage . Experience showed that it was safer to drink alcohol than the typically polluted water in Europe . Alcohol was also an effective analgesic, provided energy necessary for hard work, and generally enhanced the quality of life . </P> <P> For hundreds of years the English ancestors of the colonists had consumed beer and ale . Both in England and in the New World, people of both sexes and all ages typically drank beer with their meals . Because importing a continuing supply of beer was expensive, the early settlers brewed their own . However, it was difficult to make the beer they were accustomed to because wild yeasts caused problems in fermentation and resulted in a bitter, unappetizing brew . Although wild hops grew in New England, hop seeds were ordered from England in order to cultivate an adequate supply for traditional beer . In the meantime, the colonists improvised a beer made from red and black spruce twigs boiled in water, as well as a ginger beer . </P> <P> Beer was designated X, XX, or XXX according to its alcohol content . The colonists also learned to make a wide variety of wine from fruits . They additionally made wine from such products as flowers, herbs, and even oak leaves . Early on, French vine - growers were brought to the New World to teach settlers how to cultivate grapes . </P> <P> Colonists adhered to the traditional belief that distilled spirits were aqua vitae, or water of life . However, rum was not commonly available until after 1650, when it was imported from the Caribbean . The cost of rum dropped after the colonists began importing molasses and cane sugar directly and distilled their own rum . By 1657, a rum distillery was operating in Boston . It was highly successful and within a generation the production of rum became colonial New England's largest and most prosperous industry . </P>

When was the alcohol still invented and by who