Beer has been around for a long time, over 7000 years.
Early records show that Egyptians and Mesopotamians enjoyed ale, although it would not be much like what we are used to today.
Any cereal with the correct sugars can create alcohol spontaneously due to natural yeasts in the air.
This means that pretty much everywhere ale turns up is not as a result of trade but almost natural selection.
Over the years recipes have been adjusted and added to to enhance the flavour and improve the life of these ale’s.
The basic ale’s of those early days did not have hops in, and like in the UK were probably safer to drink than the water. Hops were probably added from about 1000 years ago (9th Century) to add flavour, aroma and that traditional bitterness, they also help preserve the beer and many other things have been added since to change the bouquet and taste.
Adding mint, heather, lemon even sticks from obscure trees have been tried. In some countries today, a beer must contain Hops, America is one of those, while in the UK we are a little more liberal.