Hey! First of all, thank you very much for your hard work! You made a great game! 
Now to the point - how do you like the idea of adding hops to a beer recipe? Beer without hops was made in the ancient world, and in the Middle Ages, hops were already used as a preservative for beer.
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Hops was certainly used as a stabilizing/preservative in beer, but, at least during the Medieval Era that the game (sort of) represents, it was never universal.
Hops were grown for use in herbal medicines as early as 736 CE, but the earliest certain evidence of its use in brewing beer isn’t until 1079 (in Germany).
BUT
Other collections of herbs and plants, like dandelion, marigold, heather, etc (collectively, known as ‘gruit’) were used in place of Hops until the 16th century - in fact, Hops were banned for brewing in parts of England in 1471, and again by Act of Parliament in 1603.
On the other hand, recipes for beer/ale with Honey, Wheat and various herbs and flavorings date back at least 3000 years (sample found in Denmark from that period), so the game’s recipe of Honey and Grain is not too far off.
Rather than add an entirely new crop to the mix, the current Beer recipe could have Herbs or Berries (or both!) added to it to represent some of the ‘non-traditional’ older recipes used before Hops became the general ingredient.
I’ve already posted the suggestion that Apple Cider, either hard (alcoholic) or soft (non-alcoholic) could be added to the potential Pub offerings, since cider was a very common drink for the peasantry back when the water could kill you with Cholera in short order - and we already have apple trees in the game.
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