If corn and potatoes are from the Americas, why weren’t Native Americans making whiskey and vodka before the Europeans showed up?

Question

If corn and potatoes are from the Americas, why weren’t Native Americans making whiskey and vodka before the Europeans showed up?

In: Other

Answer 1

Distillation is a random discovery, that they didn’t make. Similarly, malting (letting grains sprout and toasting them to stop growth and preserve the diastases) and mashing (heating at temps that encourage starch breakdown without damaging the enzymes) are random discoveries.

Some pre-Columbian civilizations knew to use amylase from saliva to break down starches for fermentation, but there’s no way to know if that was a discovery or already common technology when the Americas were settled.