Since a long time ago, Betawinese relate to Islam. You can see this from how they clothes. Almost all Betawinese men often wearing gloves and cap. While women wearing veil to cover up their hair. Because of that, when Dutch came to Indonesia, they felt a liitle bit worried. Especially when they held a party, it should be a lot of beers.
Many Betawinese curious and watched that party. The party got too rousing when they got more and more beers. Betawinese watched this with all mad feeling, but jealous, too.
The jealousy came because they also want to tried the Dutch wine. Unfortunately, wine is consists of alcohol and Islam disallowed it. Then, they decided to make their own wine, but with no alcohol in it. They called their beer as Bir Pletok. But where do “Pletok” come from?
The word of pletok came from the original sound when the bottle cap of wine opened. You know, if you pull the plug of wine bottle, then you will hear a sound more like ‘pletok’. That's why Betawinese call their beer "Bir Pletok".
Until now, bir pletok still being an original drink from Betawi. It usually can be used when Betawinese held a big event such as khitanan, wedding, or Jakarta's anniversary.
Indeed, the color of bir pletok is look like beer and wine. But, there is no acid or bitter taste at all. Bir pletok has sweet taste, and it will not makes you drunk.
The only same thing between bir pletok and the real beer is they can make you feel warm. It is because bir pletok made from spices, such as ginger and lemongrass. There is also a screwpine leaf which make bir pletok has good smell.
Although it can warming you, but you can also enjoy bir pletok with ice.