Writing this from the perspective of someone in the United States.

First, let’s establish some terminology: There are colloquial terms for various alcoholic beverages and there are legal terms for various alcoholic beverages; Prohibition in the United States caused a massive upheaval, and the subsequent reestablishment of commerce in alcohol created weird distinction for legal, regulatory and taxation purposes which may not map directly to colloquial usages.

For purposes of this discussion, I’m using the following definitions, based on the source of the fermentables.

• “Wine” gets its fermentable sugars from fruit, so “cider” (or “perry”) is a type of wine made from apples or pears.

• “Beer” gets its fermentables from grains, usually (but not always) malted. Malting is the process of partially sprouting grains, then arresting that process; this allows naturally occurring enzymes to convert stored starches into sugars which yeast can convert into alcohol.

• “Mead” gets its fermentables from honey.

• Distilled spirits are out of scope.

The TL:DR; is that the distinctions in your question are contemporary and fall away under closer scrutiny. Hard distinctions between categories are a modern invention (looking at you, BJCP) which are less evident in antiquity; even the famous German Reinheitsgebot was less about beer purity and more about economically protecting bakers’ sources of wheat.

The basic rule for millennia is that humans make alcoholic beverages with the most easily accessible and economical source of fermentables available at a given moment. This can be roughly mapped to agricultural production trends:

• In lower latitudes where fruit is more prevalent and economical, wine dominates

• In higher latitudes where grains are more prevalent (particularly barley, which when malted contains enough amylase enzymes to also break down other starches) beer is more economical to produce.

• Honey has historically been the most costly source of fermentables, which is why mead never occupied a large chunk of the alcoholic beverage space.

• Yes, even milk can be fermented into an alcoholic beverage. I’ll never know.

Note that this varies dramatically at the local scale, where obviously if you’re keeping bees, honey might be more economical than fruits. And while folks tend to reflexively associate mead with Vikings, every continent with nectar-gathering insects has mead-making; Ethiopia and Eritrea may hold the distinction of having the longest history of making world-class meads (Try Tej if you ever get the chance!).

Archaeological analysis of pottery fragments from different cultures/civilization on different continents in different eras point to a common tendency to use whatever fermentables and flavoring were available, so a single brew was likely to contain a base of fruit juice fortified with malted (or otherwise predigested, see ‘chicha’) local grains, fruit sugars like dates, figs or raisins, flavored with local herbs and seeds.

It also seems like most cultures had their ‘lawnmower beer,’ (a lower alcohol, lighter-weight everyday thirst-quencher) they also had a 12% ABV or higher ceremonial drink meant to create enlightenment.

This pattern was identified by McGovern et al., in places as different as ancient China, Mesopotamia, Scandinavia, Africa, Central and South America and Europe. North America seems to be unique in not having signs of an ancient fermentation tradition. We know from recipes from recent history (1600s-1800) that these trends of synthesis continued up to the modern era.

So, the historical trend is one of persistent pragmatism in search of catching a buzz instead of hewing to an artificial distinction or definition; you ferment what you can get your hands on. Contemporary commerce and marketing drives the need for artificial distinctions, silos and pigeonholes in a classic showdown of ‘lumpers v. splitters.’ It’s a shame, because it really cuts us off from a whole world of wonderful experiences.

Sources: Goode’s World Atlas, 21st Edition; “Ancient Brews, Rediscovered & Re-created,” McGovern & Calagione; “The Drunk Botanist,” Stewart; “Wellcome Mead,” Angotti.