This Fan-Favorite Trader Joe's Candy Was Just Transformed Into A Beer

Trader Joe's has a noteworthy beer selection, but this doesn't typically cross over with the grocery store's also notable candy and snack selection. However, Vice President of Marketing Matt Sloan and Marketing Director Tara Miller recently revealed on the company's "Inside Trader Joe's" podcast that these worlds have crossed in the form of Hardywood Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter, a beer made to taste like Trader Joe's beloved Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.

"It's like a dessert-y, treat-y kind of porter," Sloan says, with an ABV of "a little over 9%." Hardywood achieved a taste similar to the fan-favorite candy, with notes of chocolate coming from chocolate malt, "which is really just darkly roasted grains," Sloan explains. "They kind of get a coffee-roasted flavor, maybe a cocoa-roasted flavor, and then they use defatted peanut powder. It's amazing."

Miller also recalled that the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter was an instant hit in product testing. "The whole group, our hands shot up in yes votes almost immediately," she states, adding that the new, candy-based beer is now available at Trader Joe's stores.

Trader Joe's is famous for its unusually inexpensive wine, including (but not limited to) "Two Buck Chuck," an ultra-affordable Charles Shaw brand that initially sold for $1.99 a bottle. But thanks to their past collaborations with the beloved grocery chain, Hardywood is experienced in transforming candy and other Trader Joe's treats into delicious brews.

In 2020, Hardywood debuted a Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer, modeled after the flavor profiles of Trader Joe's own cookie butter brand. Speculoos cookie butter is one of the best Trader Joe's products, and it makes for a spicy golden ale with notes of cinnamon and a building sweetness.

Hardywood also makes Trader Joe's Joe-Joe Chocolate Vanilla Creme Stout, which gets its namesake flavors from vanilla bean and cacao nibs, small pieces of crushed cocoa bean that can be a snack on their own or added to other products. Similar cocoa nibs can be found in Oat Chocolate Bars with Rice and Cocoa Nibs, one of the best candies at Trader Joe's.