Alcohol in Equestria

[Wonderbolt Slipstream 263]

Is there any alcohol in Equestria? I know we see cider and everything, but we really don't know if that's alcoholic. Also, Berry Punch. And if that is then what's the drinking age? I've seen estimates that the Mane 6 are around 15-20 years old (I know that's a WIDE margin but I'm not here to talk about the Mane 6's age, just the drinking age) and that they are drinking the supposed alcoholic cider. I'm just curious about the whole thing.

[Scrubbed user 3,415]

Not 100% sure, but at things like the Grand Galloping Gala, there might be a bottle of champagne in the background somewhere.

[Wonderbolt Slipstream 263]

43 minutes ago, Vulon Bii said:

Not 100% sure, but at things like the Grand Galloping Gala, there might be a bottle of champagne in the background somewhere.

Even still, we don't know if its alcoholic or not

[SharpWit 2,472]

This is one of those things where in some instances alcohol may be heavily inferred, but the show staff can never confirm nor deny its presence in the show, for it may come off as supportive of underage drinking with the target audience being children and all.

However from one possible analytical stand point, Equestria isn't exactly in the modern era. Usually it's agreed upon that they fall between 1850-1950 I think, and on the earlier end of that time scale, we find in the United States at least, that most places didn't have a drinking limit, and that kids would sometimes be given hard cider as water and milk were more susceptible to spreading disease and expiring sooner, although it would've been likely that the cider had been watered down.

Bubble pipes exist but they are based off of real pipes so if tobacco exists then why not alcohol.

[Wonderbolt Slipstream 263]

2 minutes ago, SharpWit said:

This is one of those things where in some instances alcohol may be heavily inferred, but the show staff can never confirm nor deny its presence in the show, for it may come off as supportive of underage drinking with the target audience being children and all.

However from one possible analytical stand point, Equestria isn't exactly in the modern era. Usually it's agreed upon that they fall between 1850-1950 I think, and on the earlier end of that time scale, we find in the United States at least, that most places didn't have a drinking limit, and that kids would sometimes be given hard cider as water and milk were more susceptible to spreading disease and expiring sooner, although it would've been likely that the cider had been watered down.

Bubble pipes exist but they are based off of real pipes so if tobacco exists then why not alcohol.

Good point, although it seems like each of the towns are based on a certain era, Ponyville looks like its in the 1950's while Manehatten looks like its in the 1930's. But then you have episodes with Coloratura and it definitely looks and sounds modern during the singing and stages acts, same with Songbird Serenade in the movie.

[Sherem 4,807]

Following what I know about cider is that if Cider presents Foam, it means it DOES have alcohol 

[Kadeda 178]

Yeah... There is definitely alcohol. The cider is alcoholic. There is also bottles and glasses and such that look like there is alcohol in it. Like i think the episode about the cart race... they sat on the side line sippin martini's or something. I can't really remember so take that with a grain of salt.

[Wonderbolt Slipstream 263]

1 hour ago, Sherem said:

Following what I know about cider is that if Cider presents Foam, it means it DOES have alcohol 

I guess

34 minutes ago, Kadeda said:

Yeah... There is definitely alcohol. The cider is alcoholic. There is also bottles and glasses and such that look like there is alcohol in it. Like i think the episode about the cart race... they sat on the side line sippin martini's or something. I can't really remember so take that with a grain of salt.

Just because something looks alcoholic doesn't mean it is (don't judge a book by its cover).

[Nyactis Mewcis Catlum 670]

4 hours ago, Sherem said:

Following what I know about cider is that if Cider presents Foam, it means it DOES have alcohol 

It's actually impossible for it to be alcoholic. To make hard cider (a term I'm using because I'm in the US and cider is actually non-alcoholic by default here; that's what other countries such as the UK would consider their normal cider), the juice has to go through a fermentation process, which takes two weeks. The apples are ground up and turned into juice instantly in the episode, which means the alcohol can't develop.

Not sure why it's foaming, but perfectly non-alcoholic drinks can also foam (such as root beer), so there might be something else that's causing it.

It's also plain to see that it was not intended to be considered alcoholic since the episode was outright banned in the UK due to the unfortunate misinterpretation of the cider, as well as a few dubs just calling it "apple juice" as opposed to cider to avoid the confusion.

[King of Canterlot 9,588]

I think it's possible that alcohol exists in Equestria, however I'm unsure if the cider is necessarily alcoholic or not. I'm saying this because in an episode I think was from season one (I can't remember the episodes name or season, sorry) Spike falls asleep in the punch bowl the mane six brought with them to watch a meteor shower, and Pinkie Pie says, "Now the punch has been Spiked!"- inferring that alcohol does at least exist in Equestria because otherwise that phrase wouldn't exist   

[Wonderbolt Slipstream 263]

1 hour ago, King of Canterlot said:

I think it's possible that alcohol exists in Equestria, however I'm unsure if the cider is necessarily alcoholic or not. I'm saying this because in an episode I think was from season one (I can't remember the episodes name or season, sorry) Spike falls asleep in the punch bowl the mane six brought with them to watch a meteor shower, and Pinkie Pie says, "Now the punch has been Spiked!"- inferring that alcohol does at least exist in Equestria because otherwise that phrase wouldn't exist   

It could have been spiked with a potion though, not necessarily alcohol.

[King of Canterlot 9,588]

6 hours ago, Slipstream95 said:

It could have been spiked with a potion though, not necessarily alcohol.

Spiked with a potion? Now that may be true, however, when you hear that line said out loud, do you really think of a potion first or alcohol? The latter probably comes to mind first, at least it did for me. I think it's being heavily implied there with that line of the punch being spiked as a reference to alcohol, inferring that alcohol exists someplace in Equestria.  

[Nyactis Mewcis Catlum 670]

23 hours ago, Slipstream95 said:

It could have been spiked with a potion though, not necessarily alcohol.

That's quite the reach. Spiked is always used colloquially for alcohol.

[Wonderbolt Slipstream 263]

39 minutes ago, Nyactis Mewcis Catlum said:

That's quite the reach. Spiked is always used colloquially for alcohol.

It can mean drugs or alcohol, and with potions and magic in Equestria, it's not hard to believe those could be used.

[Kadeda 178]

On 4/24/2018 at 3:42 AM, Slipstream95 said:

I guess

Just because something looks alcoholic doesn't mean it is (don't judge a book by its cover).

That goes both ways. You're asking a question that's technically impossible to really answer... so we have to go on the information that we have. IMO there is more evidence that there is alcohol in Equestria than there is evidence that there isn't any.

[rainbounce 13]

On 2018-04-24 at 12:26 AM, Wonderbolt Slipstream said:

Is there any alcohol in Equestria? I know we see cider and everything, but we really don't know if that's alcoholic. Also, Berry Punch. And if that is then what's the drinking age? I've seen estimates that the Mane 6 are around 15-20 years old (I know that's a WIDE margin but I'm not here to talk about the Mane 6's age, just the drinking age) and that they are drinking the supposed alcoholic cider. I'm just curious about the whole thing.

Things like cider are implied to be alcoholic but it's never directly stated, because it is technically a children's show. As for drinking age, MLP shares a suprising amount of similarities to western culture, so I imagine the drinking age would be the same as it is here (18 - 21) 

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

I think the Apple cider definitely counts.

[Orchid_Fiore 199]

Generally, cider is a non-alcoholic drink (has very small levels, even 0%). However... I've read some theories that say Rainbow Dash is addicted to it (for obvious reasons). I don't think is something serious, but they got a point: it doesn't seem like a simple and healthy taste...

Edited May 20, 2022 by Orchid_Fiore

[Splashee 28,537]

Hopefully, there should be no alcohol in Equestria. Unless it was a commercial for such thing, and targeted to young children

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

I'm pretty sure they took the fizz out of the cider in the later episodes (after Super Cider Squeezy 6000) because the fizz accidentally implied alcohol. There's not supposed to be alcohol in MLP, at least as far as I can tell. If there was, it would mostly be Rarity drinking a glass of wine at a social event or something.

[EpicEnergy 22,071]

No, I don't think there's alcohol in Equestria.