The Truth About Jelly Belly's Beer-Flavored Jelly Beans

If you love beer and you love candy, then you might want to try Jelly Belly's Draft Beer flavor of jelly beans. According to a press release put out by the candy company, the adult flavor launched in 2014 after years of research and decades of requests from their beer-loving customers. "This took about three years to perfect," said Ambrose Lee, the research and development manager for Jelly Belly. "The recipe includes top secret ingredients, but I can tell you it contains no alcohol."

The Draft Beer jelly bean flavor pays tribute to the Jelly Belly company's German heritage and is inspired by the taste of Hefeweizen, which Food and Wine describes as a yeasty German wheat beer. The candy bean is a little bit sweet, with hints of wheat flavor and a bread-like aroma. Rob Swaigen, the candy company's vice president of marketing, said, "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." 

These beer-flavored beans may be popular with some candy-loving, beer-drinking adults, but many parents felt betrayed to see Jelly Belly, a brand that's so popular with children, celebrate drinking with this alcohol-inspired flavor. Business Insider reported that some parents were so offended, they even called for a boycott of the company!

One Facebook user wrote, "I have been a big fan of Jelly Belly since I was 13" suggesting the product "...may encourage minors (like I was 20+ years ago or my own children today) to develop a substance abuse problem." The concerned parent went on to wonder if the company considered their possible fans who are "recovering alcoholics who are harmed by such an influence?" Another Facebook commenter wrote, "We don't need that for our children. We aren't going to buy any more. Just lost a lot of customers this way." Jelly Belly must not have lost too many customers however, because now — more than six years later — the company is still selling Jelly Belly Draft Beer flavored products (available here). Not only that, you can also buy cocktail-inspired candy beans (available here) featuring flavors like Margarita, Peach Bellini, and Mojito.