It is rare to drink either one unmixed, although the poor have always had to make do with only water. The apple-producing region of France runs from the Bay of Biscay to Normandy. Cider is produced in great quantity in Normandy and is even preferred to wine there. Beer is not common in France except in the northwest around Flandres and in the northeast around Lorraine, near the German states. As a beverage, beer is as old as Sumer and was drunk throughout Charlemagne's empire, although these early beers were not made with hops as we do now.
Hops adds a bitter taste and functions as preservative.
Netherlands in the early 14th century, and England in the early 15th century, although its use was forbidden there until 1556. Here in Calais, we drink beer with almost every meal, including breakfast. This region does not produce wine, much to M. du Lac's dismay. During poor harvests ordinances were sometimes passed against making beer as it took grain away from the food supply. Under the pressures of modern living, drinking is becoming more of a social problem in this day and age.