Tonight I decided to go for it, halving the recipe in proportion to my level of confidence that I would actually enjoy partaking warm, spiced, sweet, buttery beer.
The result: not horrible. But not wonderful, either. At the first sip, I'm enticed by the smooth, satisfying fat of the butter and the subtle zing of the cloves and ginger, but my initial response of pleasure is quickly counteracted by the realization that the butter does not seem to be properly incorporated into the rest of the beverage. There are beads of oil on the surface and the flavors of the beer and the butter just don't really...go. Still, I'm not repulsed; I've got the glass sitting next to me, nearly empty, and I fully intend to finish it off.
The verdict: this is not exactly the beverage I have in mind when I picture Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting around a table in the Three Broomsticks. The Butterbeer I imagine is spicier and fuller bodied and, though it has a nominal alcohol content, probably does not taste like beer. But, as the above recipe was based not on Rowling's novels but on an authentic sixteenth-century recipe, I do not feel as though the experiment was a complete loss. Tonight, I've had a little taste of history, and that's rather exciting in itself.
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