Skip to main content

harry potter - Does Butterbeer Contain Alcohol?


Does Butterbeer contain alcohol?



Alcohol use isn't unheard of in Potterverse. As we know, Hagrid likes to imbibe, and so do Mundungus Fletcher, Professor Slughorn, and Winky the House-elf. In fact, Winky is able to become intoxicated on Butterbeer. J.K. Rowling has always stressed the differences between humans and house-elves, though.


Professor Slughorn breaks out the oak-matured meade for Harry and Ron in Half-Blood Prince. As well, in HBP, Harry is able to keep Hagrid and Slughorn's bottle of wine refilling itself, so apparently there's no underage restriction on the magical production of alcohol in Potterverse.


Everyone in the Order -- adults and teens alike -- at the Burrow has Firewhisky in honor of Mad-Eye Moody in Deathly Hallows.


Butterbeer is also served in The Three Broomsticks. This one might mean nothing, as a person can get a glass of Coke in a Muggle bar or pub just as easily as a mixed drink or a pint. Also, drinking laws are more liberal in Europe and the UK, I believe?


There are myriad Butterbeer recipes online, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic recipes. I also kind of poked around The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and The Three Broomsticks, but no official recipes are posted. Like Disney, Universal does not allow alcohol, so I doubt the theme park is a good resource for confirmation either way (as all their beverages would presumably be alcohol-free).


So does Butterbeer contain alcohol?


I will not make a Butterbeer tag.



Answer



Let's look back at the scene where we see Winky intoxicated:




"Winky is getting through six bottles a day now," Dobby whispered to Harry.


"Well, it's not strong, that stuff," Harry said.


But Dobby shook his head. "'Tis strong for a house-elf, sir," he said.



I find this to be very strong evidence that butterbeer is, in fact, alcoholic. especially Harry's comment: "it's not strong." That basically necessitates that it has some intoxicating effect, otherwise he'd have said something more to the effect of "how can she be drunk on sugar water?".


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more