Stupid Question- Butterbeer Info

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 122017


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, chnc1024 at A... wrote:
> OK I know this is a stupid question, but I figured I'd go ahead and  ask
> it anyway. (Hey, it's not like it ever stopped me before right!)
>  
> What is Butterbeer, and why, seeing that it contains alcohol, are the
> students allowed to have it?
>  
>  
> Chancie

bboyminn:

Others have pretty much answered the question, and I have addressed it
several times before, and will try to merge all the information into
this one post.

Back in the old days, and even today in specialty drinks, 'fizzy'
beverages like rootbeer and regular beer have bubbles are a result of
fermentation of yeast (brewing yeast, not baking yeast). The
difference between rootbeer and reqular beer as far as alcohol content
is how long it is fermented. The long the process, the more alcohol is
created.

Next point, in the UK there is a standard for what constitutes a
'SOFT' drink. By law, it must have one half of one percent (0.5%) or
LESS alcohol to be classified as 'soft'. If classified as 'soft',
there are no restrictions on it sale to minors.

There are many regional variations of adult drinks that fall into the
'soft' catgory. For example, in the summertime Brits will sometimes
drink Shandy or Shandygaff which is a light 'summery' form of beer;
half beer/lager and half leamonade (Sprite, 7-UP, etc) or as an
alternative, half ginger beer/ale/brew. (also, non-alcohol
beers/ales/wines, near-beer, and others)

Standard Lager/beer alcohol content is in the range of 6% which would
make a Shandy 3% which is still more than enough to get drunk on.
However, they also produce a 'soft' Shandy which many adults drink for
the taste when for various reasons they can't have alcohol. In
addition, kids get a great thrill out of drinking the 'soft' version
of this adult drinks. 

To equal the 6% alcohol of a ONE beer/ale, one would have to drink
*12* bottle of 'soft' beer/ale/wine/shandy. To get drunk, or at least
tipsy, you would have to drink between 36 and 48 bottle of 'soft'
drink. Good luck with that.

It is likely that Butterbeer with it rich thick foam, a typical
characteristic of truly fermented beverages as opposed to CO2 injected
beverages, is indeed fermented in the traditional old fashioned way. 

That fermentation is likely to leave a trace of alcohol which would
not effect a typical kid in any way unless they drank a couple of
cases. However, House-Elves are very small creatures and they may be
highly susceptible to the trace amounts of alcohol. In a sense, it
would be like giving a highly susceptible human infant or very small
dog alcohol; it wouldn't take much to produce an effect.

As to the myth that alcohol burns/evaporates away when it is cook or
heated, well, while partly true, it's mostly a myth. A friends mother
made Rum Balls (like cookies) one time, and believe me, a few rum
balls and you were feeling it. The same is true of Rum cake and other
cooked food with alcohol in them. However, you must consider how much
alcohol is used. It's extremely unlikely that you can squeeze a quart
of rum into a rum cake. Therefore the dose of alcohol in each piece of
cake, or whatever, is not that great. So, unless an adult or kid were
unusually sensitive to the alcohol, the amount in most cooked foods
would not be significant.

True some alcohol does evaporate, but a substantial percentage can
remain. The question then becomes was there really that much alcohol
there to begin with.

As to Hot Butterbeer, I don't that the amount that would evaporate
between pouring and heating the beverage, and delivering it to the
table would be significant. Of course, the total amount there (0.5%)
isn't significant to start with.


I've discovered the best way to produce your own Butterbeer is to add
butterscotch/butterrum flavoring to Vanilla Creme Soda (equivalent to
butterscotch topping sauce on vanilla ice cream). Dispite this best
method, don't expect it to taste as wonderful as the books make it
seem. JKR herself said it was 'sickly' sweet, and indeed it is.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)