Butterbeer

Butterbeer
Food information
Manufacturer	Madam Rosmerta Aberforth Dumbledore
Sold	The Three Broomsticks The Hog's Head
Price	Two Sickles
Flavour	"A little bit like less-sickly butterscotch"

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

— Hermione Granger inviting Harry Potter to the Three Broomsticks Inn.

Butterbeer is a popular wizarding beverage described as tasting "a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch."

Description

Butterbeer is 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" suggests that it was not sold there very often. In Diagon Alley, the drink has been known to be sold at the Leaky Cauldron.

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

Alcoholic Content

It has a very slight alcohol content, which could get house-elves fully drunk, though an antidote to this existed. It seemed to have a less pronounced effect on humans. 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", indicating that it could lower inhibitions. Winky, a house-elf, took to getting drunk on Butterbeer after losing her job with the Crouch family — an addiction from which she never fully recovered.

Behind the scenes

A sign advertising Butterbeer.

• Michael Gambon, the actor who has portrayed Albus Dumbledore since the third film, once said that the first thing he will do when he gets to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park is to order eight pints of Butterbeer. According to him, 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 can 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 collectible mug.

Butter Beer will also be served at The Making of Harry Potter

• Butterbeer was a real drink. The earliest reference to Buttered Beer is 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' calls for liquorish root and anniseeds to be added. British celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal.
• In the first book, when Rubeus Hagrid broke into the hut on the rock, he takes a few things out of the pockets in his coat, including an "amber liquid" which he took a swig of before starting to make tea. This might have been butterbeer.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Possible appearance)
• 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 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
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter