Courtesy of Jelly Belly
Someone, perhaps Homer Simpson, once said, “Beer is a many splendored thing.” Truer words have never been spoken by either a human or an animated doofus. Beer is diverse. There are hundreds of styles, thousands of variations, and millions of ways to use the substance. Bakers add it to cupcakes, chefs use it to braze meats or make sauces, and Cicerones pair it with dishes. But, until now, no one had thought to make a jelly bean flavor out of beer.
Jelly Belly, the wildly successful jelly bean manufacturer made even more popular when President Ronald Reagan professed a love for them, has introduced the first beer flavored, non-alcoholic jelly bean named appropriately, Draft Beer.
“Beer has been a highly-requested flavor for decades,” the company’s website says. “And after years of perfecting the formulation, we’re ready to share this new product with the world.”
Jelly Belly has been making the tiny, chewy treats for more than 100 years debuting flavors like Birthday Cake, Buttered Popcorn and Tabasco. But, their newest flavor, which made its debut on Saturday, January 18, may be its wildest yet. The company describes the flavor as, “effervescent and crisp flavor is packed in a golden jelly bean with an iridescent finish.”
“The recipe includes top secret ingredients, but I can tell you it contains no alcohol,” Ambrose Lee, Jelly Belly’s research and development manager, said in a press release.
Because the company has roots in Germany, a beer flavored jelly bean was a natural. And, in a tip of the Tyrolean hat to its German heritage, the new bean was made to be reminiscent of a Hefeweizen ale.
On their website, Jelly Belly provides several ‘recipes’ for mixing the new jelly bean with others to create new flavors. For instance, to create an Apple Cider Shandy, pop two Draft Beer jelly beans and one Red Apple bean in your mouth at once. Experimentation is encouraged and that begs the question; would two Draft Beer beans and a Sour Cherry taste like Kriek lambic? Might be worth finding out.
The Draft Beer Jelly Belly is for sale on JellyBelly.com and is being shipped to stores now.
