Pass or Fail? Draft beer jelly beans

The Jelly Belly Draft Beer jelly bean pays homage to beer’s German ancestry with a Hefeweizen-inspired ale flavor.

In our big cache of WTF?! files, we’ve covered everything from frozen beer foam to spreadable beer jelly. Now, the candy connoisseurs at Jelly Belly Candy Co. have released an excellent addition to our Pass or Fail column — draft beer jelly beans. We’re pretty much ready to get out our big, old PASS stamp because of the effort Jelly Belly put into this idea.

According to the company, making the world’s first beer-flavored jelly bean wasn’t necessarily a question of how, but which style. Ale or lager? Stout? Lambic? Pilsner? In the end, the company opted to pay homage to its German ancestry with a Hefeweizen-inspired ale flavor, and Draft Beer Jelly Belly jelly beans took shape.

“This took about three years to perfect,” said Ambrose Lee, research and development manager for Jelly Belly in a press release. “The recipe includes top secret ingredients, but I can tell you it contains no alcohol [rats!].”

The effervescent and crisp flavor is packed in a golden jelly bean with an iridescent finish. Beer connoisseurs will find the flavor profile to be clean with notes of wheat and a touch of sweetness. The aroma is mildly bready.

“Anyone who enjoys a good, cold beer will enjoy Draft Beer Jelly Belly beans for the simple fact that it tastes just as you’d imagine,” said Rob Swaigen, vice president of marketing for Jelly Belly Candy Co.

Draft Beer is the latest in a long line of alcohol-inspired flavor innovations from Jelly Belly. The company first created a non-alcoholic gourmet flavor in 1977 with Mai Tai. Since then, more flavors from Blackberry Brandy to Strawberry Daiquiri were developed, inspired by popular cocktails. Over the years, favorite flavors like Piña Colada (1983), Margarita (1995) and Mojito (2010) have helped carve out the Jelly Belly Cocktail Classics collection of six cocktail flavors.