Before the 19th century, drinking water had the potential to make one sick because of poor sanitation. Practical experience showed that fermented beverages were less likely to produce illness.[2] At mealtimes in the Middle Ages, everyone could drink small beer, including children, while eating a meal at the table. Table beer was around this time typically less than 1% ABV.[4]
It was common for workers (including sailors) who engaged in heavy physical labor to drink more than 10 imperial pints (5.7 litres) of small beer during a workday to quench their thirst. Small beer was also drunk for its nutrition content; it might even have bits of wheat or bread suspended in it.
Source: Small beer – Wikipedia
Tim B.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-alcohol_beer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svagdricka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazake
Tim B.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millet_beer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMHuvLNNSrw
Tim B.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boza
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0it70lqdW9g
Tim B.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pito_(beer)
“Pito is a type of beer made from fermented millet or sorghum in northern Ghana, parts of Nigeria, and other parts of West Africa.[1] It is made by small (household-level) producers, and is typically served in a calabash outside the producer’s home where benches are sometimes provided.
Pito can be served warm or cold. Warm pito gets its heat from the fermentation process. Pito brewing can provide an important source of income for otherwise cash-poor households in rural areas. It is never found bottled or canned, and, as a rule, is purchased directly from the household in which it is brewed. “