# Harry Potter books: Is butterbeer alcoholic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727 "2005-08-05T16:10:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/1 "2005-08-05T16:10:32Z")
Not really clear on this from the books. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/2 "2005-08-05T16:21:01Z")
And also … is it artery-clogging? ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/3 "2005-08-05T16:44:38Z")
> [@tiltypig](#): > > Not really clear on this from the books. It is, Winky (?) the house elf gets drunk from it. Also, one of them (Hermione, I think), says “it’s not strong” which I think also implies that it’s alcoholic, but not very. JKR never explicitly says it is that I recall, but that’s what I’ve gleaned from the text. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/4 "2005-08-05T16:48:20Z")
I think it isn’t supposed to be. When she wants to feature an alcoholic drink it is pretty explicit. Winky only gets drunk on it because she is a different species. The kids have been drinking butterbeer freely since they were eleven. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/5 "2005-08-05T17:13:32Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > I think it isn’t supposed to be. When she wants to feature an alcoholic drink it is pretty explicit. Winky only gets drunk on it because she is a different species. The kids have been drinking butterbeer freely since they were eleven. I still think it is, otherwise Hermione would have just said “it’s non-alcoholic” or something, instead of “it’s not strong”. I think that implies it does have some alcohol, though very little. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/6 "2005-08-05T17:31:54Z")
Maybe it’s supposed to be like old-fashioned homemade rootbeer, which could have a slight amount of alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/7 "2005-08-05T17:40:37Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > I think it isn’t supposed to be. When she wants to feature an alcoholic drink it is pretty explicit. Winky only gets drunk on it because she is a different species. The kids have been drinking butterbeer freely since they were eleven. [nitpick]Thirteen, actually. Fourteen for Hermione.[/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/8 "2005-08-05T17:47:06Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > The kids have been drinking butterbeer freely since they were eleven. A bit of a nitpick, here: I don’t believe butterbeer is introduced until PoA, when we see the third years making their first trips into Hogsmeade. That means it isn’t readily available to them until they’re 13 or 14. There may be occasions when older students bring some back to the common rooms and share with younger students, but those aren’t necessarily authorized or condoned by the adults. It’s implied that underage wizards are not allowed to purchase hard liquor, and the first time we see any of them offered anything stronger than butterbeer is in HBP (good mead is fairly potent stuff). However, there may be no age restriction on the sale of weaker beverages. We can’t conclude that it’s nonalcoholic just because the kids drink it. ---
**Author:** ![ParadoxMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@ParadoxMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParadoxMan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/9 "2005-08-05T18:25:24Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Maybe it’s supposed to be like old-fashioned homemade rootbeer, which could have a slight amount of alcohol. That’s exactly what how I’ve always though of butterbeer ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/10 "2005-08-05T18:26:17Z")
Yup, but only mildly so. The wizarding world is isolated from the Muggle laws and cheerfully archaic, so there’s no earthly reason why wizards _would_ have any hangups about underage drinking. Further confirmation of this comes from the fact that the kids are starting to “graduate” to mead and wine in HBP and nobody treats it like a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/11 "2005-08-05T18:37:08Z")
There was also a line in HBP about something done “under the influence of Butterbeer.” I forget what, but I remember thinking “oh, so it _is_ alcoholic!” ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/12 "2005-08-05T19:15:01Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > There was also a line in HBP about something done “under the influence of Butterbeer.” I forget what, but I remember thinking “oh, so it _is_ alcoholic!” I think they said Mundungus “reeked of butterbeer”, and given his character, I don’t think he’d reek of a nonalcoholic drink. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/13 "2005-08-05T19:55:41Z")
Personally, I’ve always equated it with something like hard cider, which is a fairly common drink in England (as I understand it). ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/14 "2005-08-06T12:22:37Z")
It’s an alcopop that’s weaker than butter_scotch_ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/15 "2005-08-06T13:03:27Z")
Considering it’s a wizard beverage, I reckon that there could be an alcoholic and non-alcoholic version that is identical in flavour. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/16 "2005-08-06T15:57:11Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > Personally, I’ve always equated it with something like hard cider, which is a fairly common drink in England (as I understand it). It is a common drink in Britain (and a popular choice for illicit underage drinkers), but the alcohol content is similar to a strong beer – which seems too strong for butterbeer, in the context of the books. I’ve been imagining the alcohol in butterbeer to be more like the level of a commercial shandy, like [Bass shandy](http://www.britishdelights.com/detail.asp?product_id=DR92) – about 0.5% by volume. Not enough to give even a small child a buzz, but possibly more powerful to a house elf. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/17 "2005-08-06T16:16:22Z")
What’s in butterbeer, anyway? I imagine it’s like a carbonated butterscotch drink, only that sounds a bit horrid when it’s served warm. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/18 "2005-08-06T16:27:48Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > What’s in butterbeer, anyway? I imagine it’s like a carbonated butterscotch drink, only that sounds a bit horrid when it’s served warm. Specifically, has J.K. Rowling ever said what’s in it? She must have known what it is she was writing about, so there’s probably an actual recipe for it or something that is close to what she had in mind. I know you could probably say the same thing about a Pan-Galactic Gargleblaster, but I think it’s different because the ingredients are listed and some of them don’t exist on Earth. I think butterbeer is different. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/19 "2005-08-06T16:44:20Z")
I agree with **Barbarian** that it’s something like _butter_scotch but possibly also mixed with another English beverage, the only mildly alcoholic ginger _beer_. Considering Rowling’s fascination with mixing up traditional products (like Spellotape for Sellotape) this wouldn’t surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727/20 "2005-08-06T19:23:29Z")
There is a non-acoholic version, called “I can’t believe it’s not butterbeer.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-books-is-butterbeer-alcoholic/315727.md?page=2)