The Native Americans in Virginia did not develop alcoholic beverages; there was no booze in Virginia until the arrival of the Europeans. The Spanish, English, and other sailors who came to the Chesapeake Bay brought rum, and the settlers brewed beer and tried to make wine from the native fox grapes. (There's so little sugar in those native grapes, the fermentation process created very little alcohol.)
After orchards were planted, fruit was mashed and served as cider or distilled into brandy. Cider would naturally ferment, creating alcohol equivalent to what's in a beer today (about half the percentage in a glass of wine).
Smooth-drinking Virginia bourbon, aged in charred oak barrels for seven or so years, wasn't developed until after the Revolutionary War. Prior to 1800, rum was the primary liquor in Virginia. It was imported from the Caribbean; Virginia ships would carry pork and wheat to the islands, and return with slaves, rum, and sugar. Rum was usually mixed with sweet juices and served as a punch. A punch could also be formed by other combinations of alcohol and sugar, which was a special treat in colonial times:
George Washington was rejected by the voters of Frederick County, in his first attempt at being elected to the House of Burgesses, in part because he had cracked down on local taverns selling alcohol to the Virginia Regiment troops that he led on the frontier at the start of the French and Indian War. Alcohol was an essential part of colonial Virginia elections, which offered rural farmers a rare opportunity to gather, see their neighbors, and party. In Washington's second attempt at office, he made sure to treat the voters liberally to an alcoholic punch to honor their participation in the electoral process - and to obtain their support. Washington was challenged one last time by the economics of whiskey, in 1794.
Western Pennsylvania farmers tested the power of the Federal government by refusing to pay taxes on whiskey (the Whiskey Rebellion). Washington led a military force to suppress the "rebellion." The military response may have been an over-reaction, but Washington had understood the importance of symbolism and drama since his early youth in colonial Tidewater society. The frontier farmers gave Washington a chance to demonstrate that the national government, was empowered to enforce its laws under the Constitution, in contrast to the Articles of Confederation.