[HPforGrownups] Butterbeer (Was: Re: Spoilers?? Where are They)

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 171675

From: Goddlefrood <gav_fiji at yahoo.com>
>I've had a large number of different kinds of beverages, both 
>alcoholic and non-alcoholic, in my life, but have never come 
>across butterbeer so far. I do know that if one adds milk to 
>beer they really do not mix well. However I'm no wizard, so 
>what do I know? It is a popular drink amongst younger wizards 
>and witches.

Bart:
Ah, in my speculations as to what butterbeer HAS, I forgot to make speculations as to what butterbeer IS. Of course, there is virtually no canon that helps us in this regard. However, it does appear that it is a drink that mainly appeals to adolescents, but that adults can enjoy, as well. That implies, at least to me, that it is a sweet drink. As "beer" is in the name, one can assume a level of carbonation. 

Now, there IS a beer, popular in some parts of the real world, made from honey, called "mead" (as a matter of fact, the reason why kosher wines had, for years, a reputation of being cloyingly sweet is because many of the Jews who came to England and the United States came from areas where grapes were rare and mead was popular, so when they were able to make grape wine, they made it taste similar to the mead they were used to; at least that's what long-time New York food columnist/radio host Arthur Schwartz has said. Now, there is a popular sweet made from butter, cream and sugar melted together, called "butterscotch". It is related to caramel and toffee, differing mainly in the way it's heated. 

Now, I have made home-brewed root beer (and birch beer) several times. It can be made anywhere from virtually non-alcoholic (by sealing the bottle carefully) to somewhat alcoholic (by letting some of the carbon dioxide to escape, so it doesn't kill the yeast before they make much alcohol). Now, JKR apparently said in an interview with Bon Appetit magazine, that she imagines it "to taste a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch" (note: I saw this quote in several places, but cut and pasted from Wikipedia, which was the first place I found to identify the source). 

One other bit of historical background: Butterscotch used to frequently be made with Scotch Whiskey, at least before the 2nd World War. This may or may not be relevant, here.

In any case, I am going to assume that butterbeer is a fermented product, using butterscotch syrup and water as a base, made in sealed casks so that a minimal amount of alcohol gets formed. As it is supposed to have a warming effect (Lupin on POA, among others), it may be that SOME of the carbon dioxide is allowed to escape, increasing the alcohol content, and reducing the sweetness further. 

Looking through the Internet, I have found that the Hires root beer kit (which I used for my initial efforts) hasn't been available for a couple of decades (boy, do I feel old!), and most of the root beer recipes on the Internet are not the fermented product. Here's a site with a technique similar to the one I used when I made it from scratch (using a birch beer recipe from a late 19th century medicinal cookbook): 

http://www.greydragon.org/library/brewing_root_beer.html

Bart