Butterbeer

Butterbeer
Food information
Manufacturer	Madam Rosmerta Aberforth Dumbledore
Sold	The Three Broomsticks Hog's Head The Leaky Cauldron
Price	Two Sickles
Flavour	Like less-sickly butterscotch

"Enjoy a foaming mug of this popular wizarding beverage."

— Description of Butterbeer

Butterbeer was a popular wizarding beverage described as tasting "a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch." It was served at numerous locations in the wizarding world and had a very slight alcoholic content. Students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would often buy it when visiting Hogsmeade.

Description

a mug of Butterbeer

Butterbeer was served cold in bottles and hot in "foaming tankards." In Hogsmeade, it's sold at The Three Broomsticks and The Hog's Head, although the fact that the latter pub's stock was described as "very dusty" suggested that it was not sold there very often. In Diagon Alley, the drink had been known to be sold at the Leaky Cauldron. It was made out of butterscotch, sugar and water.

At the Hog's Head, customers were charged two sickles per Butterbeer (£0.60 approximately), but it was not certain whether this was a universal price for the drink, or if the price of the drink varied from location to location.

An extra sweet variant was brewed by Madam Rosmerta. At least some of the ingredients she uses include Sugar Shrub, Mallowsweet, and Moondew. It is unclear if these ingredients are required only for the 'Extra Sweet' version, or if these are standard ingredients in normal butterbeer.

Alcoholic Content

Butterbeer may have had a very slight alcohol content, which could get house-elves in a drunk-like state, though an antidote to this existed. This is likely due to house-elves having both significantly smaller bodies as well as a slightly different body chemistry than humans, thus increasing their vulnerability to the effects of alcohol in any volume. It seemed to have a less pronounced effect on humans than smaller creatures such as house-elves, but humans could still fall "under the influence" of it. In 1996, Harry Potter wondered what Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger might do at Professor Horace Slughorn's Christmas Party "under the influence of Butterbeer", which indicated that it could lower inhibitions, perhaps like alcohol. Winky, a house-elf, took to getting a drunk-like state off of Butterbeer after losing her job with the Crouch family — an addiction from which she never fully recovered.

History

"Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it?"

— Butterbeer is served at the Three Broomsticks Inn

Butterbeer is served foaming hot in mugs and cold in a bottle and bottle of Butterbeer in the Hog's Head costs 2 Sickles each.

House-elves could get drunk off Butterbeer, as Winky often did. During Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Winky was often found drunk within the kitchens after she was sacked by Barty Crouch Snr For a house-elf the drink was much stronger and Dobby would take her to the Room of Requirement to find antidotes there. It was considered shameful for an elf to consume such large quantities of Butterbeer.

A group of Hogwarts students drinking Butterbeer

Lupin was surprised that Harry had tasted Butterbeer when, as far as the professor knew, Harry had never been to Hogsmeade. This was untrue as Harry had been to Hogsmeade previously and has tried Butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks. This suggests that butterbeer is not readily available in Hogwarts castle; Harry lied that Ron and Hermione brought some back from Hogsmeade for him. However, after Harry became a Hogwarts champion in the Triwizard Tournament and then again after he won the First Task, the Gryffindor common room was awash with the stuff.

Butterbeer was served at the Yule Ball and at Bill and Fleur's wedding. It could be found at the refreshment table, with Refilling Charm placed upon it.

Luna Lovegood wore a necklace of Butterbeer corks. she often wore this necklace throughout her time at Hogwarts, most of the other students in attendance found this to be strange and would often laugh in regards to it.

Dean and Seamus, planning an after-exam party, discuss how many "black-market Butterbeers" they'll need.

The mascot of the Ballycastle Bats, Barny the Fruitbat, appears in Butterbeer advertisements with the slogan "Barny says: I'm just batty about Butterbeer!"

Gwenog Jones enjoys "relaxing with friends, drinking butterbeer, and listening to The Weird Sisters".

Behind the scenes

A sign advertising Butterbeer

• Michael Gambon, the actor who had portrayed Albus Dumbledore since the third film, once said that the first thing he would do when he got to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park was to order eight pints of Butterbeer. He stated: "...it is not alcoholic, and it is refreshing."

• Executive Chef of Universal Parks and Resorts, Steve Jayson commented that Butterbeer is "Real comforting and nice and smooth going down".

• Butterbeer at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter could be served either cold with a taste similar to cream soda or frozen as a slush with a butterscotch-like foam on top. One may also purchase it either in a regular plastic cup or in a collectable mug. As of 12 December 2012, over five million glasses of Butterbeer were served at the park, an event that was commemorated by the park giving away free Butterbeers to one thousand guests that day. Butterbeer was also served at The Making of Harry Potter.

• Butterbeer may be based on Buttered Beer, which was a real drink. The earliest reference to Buttered Beer was from, 'The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin' published in London in 1588 A.D., made from beer, sugar, eggs, nutmeg, cloves and butter back in Tudor times. Another old recipe for Buttered Beer, published by Robert May in 1664 A.D., from his recipe book, 'The Accomplisht Cook' called for liquorice root and aniseeds to be added. British celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal recreated it for his Tudor Feast.
• Butterbeer remains a popular drink with Harry Potter fans. Several fan-created recipes can be found online. These recipes vary between being non-alcoholic for children and teetotalers as well as being highly alcoholic in their composition.

Muggle Interpretations

Non-alcoholic:

• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter sells bottled non-alcoholic butterbeer
• Reed's Inc produces Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer
• The Starbucks secret menu boasts a "Butterbeer Frappuccino" which is a Creme Frappuccino with 3 pumps each of caramel and toffee nut syrup and caramel drizzle on top
• In March of 2017, Yuengling's Ice Cream debuted a flavour inspired by Butterbeer. The ice cream is made from half buttercream ice cream, half butterscotch ice cream, and twisted with a butterscotch swirl.

Alcoholic:

• There are many alcoholic recipes available online, most include butterscotch sauce and rum

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (PS1 version, mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (GBC and PS2 versions only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Quidditch Through the Ages (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (mentioned only)