The Best Places To Buy Cookie Butter Beer

If you're looking to buy Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer, you can find it at Trader Joe's. This imperial golden ale is a collaboration between Trader Joe's and Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. It's a seasonal offering, so stock up while you can!

Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer

The Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer is an extension of this popular line, venturing into the beverage market. The beer is brewed and bottled by Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, Virginia, and is a Trader Joe's exclusive. It is an imperial golden ale with toasted coconut, whole vanilla beans, milk, sugar, and a hint of butter. The beer is packaged in a sleek 16-ounce (1-pint) aluminium can, with a royal blue and purple label that matches the Speculoos Cookie Butter packaging.

The beer has an intense aroma, with prominent notes of coconut, butterscotch, vanilla, and yeast. The flavour is malty and spicy, with coconut and vanilla taking centre stage. It has a robust 9.5% alcohol content, making it a high-gravity beer. The beer is best savoured slowly, at a temperature of 40°F, and poured into a stem glass to enhance the drinking experience.

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

The Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer has received mixed reviews. Some people describe it as having a strong ale flavour with hints of butter cookie, coconut, and vanilla. Others have noted an artificial taste and an unpleasant aftertaste. It is worth noting that the beer has a high alcohol content of 9.25% to 9.5% ABV, which may contribute to its intense and dessert-like flavour profile.

Seasonal offering

Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer is a seasonal offering, usually among the first fall items to hit the shelves at Trader Joe's. The beer is a result of the success of the chain's Speculoos Cookie Butter, a spread made from finely ground Belgian speculoos cookies. The sweet spread became an instant sensation when it was introduced in 2011, with consumers raving about using it in various ways, such as stirring it into coffee or blending it into a milkshake.

The Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer was launched in the US in late 2020, marking the brand's venture into the beverage market. The beer is an imperial golden ale inspired by the grocer's beloved Speculoos Cookie Butter spread. It is crafted with whole vanilla beans, milk, sugar, and toasted coconut, capturing the sweet, caramel notes of the iconic treat. The result is a decadently smooth, creamy ale that embodies the spirit of the classic cookie butter in liquid form.

The beer is brewed and bottled by Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, Virginia, and is available in sleek 16-ounce (1-pint) aluminum cans. It is also offered in a 1/2 litre German bottle, a common design for beers in Germany. The label on the bottle resembles the Speculoos Cookie Butter jar, making the connection between the beer and the spread unmistakable.

The seasonal offering is typically sold as a four-pack, but single cans can also be purchased. A four-pack is priced at $14.99, while a single can costs $3.75 (plus applicable tax depending on the location).

The Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer is best enjoyed chilled and poured slowly into a stem glass, enhancing the drinking experience by providing temperature control and allowing for swirling. It is the perfect dessert beer or a conversation starter during the holidays.

Beer reviews

Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer

Look: Pours a slightly hazy, medium orange with a thin white head that dissipates to sparse patches with light lacing.

Smell: The smell of this beer comes off as a doughy malt, vanilla, coconut, and a little caramel, very much like a butter cookie.

Taste: Sweet malt, yeast, butter, coconut, and spicy with some vanilla. Flavor tapers off into the finish, which has a moderate, slightly astringent bitterness but leaves light lingering buttery vanilla and coconut.

Feel: It's a medium-bodied beer with light to moderate creaminess.

This beer is definitely worth a try if you're interested in the broad range of pastry items that beer can imitate. Brewers have been throwing cookies and cereal into their beer for decades now, and the cookie flavour really comes through. This beer would definitely go well with a holiday meal. Knowing Trader Joe's, I would buy a few of these bottles if you like them because they probably won't be around very long. This is probably a seasonal thing, so stock up if you really like it.

Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer – Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Look: Pours an orange colour with a slight white head that dissipates slowly.

Smell: Smells of booze and cookie batter.

Taste: Tastes of orange and sugar cookie.

Feel: Medium body and carbonation on the lighter side.

This is an interesting beer, but I don’t think I could drink more than one.

Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer – Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Look: Bright golden yellow with lacing white foamy cap from a pint can.

Smell: Notes of manufactured “toasted coconut” and vanilla flavouring, with lactose milk sugar notes.

Taste: Sweetened strong ale packs a punch at 9.25% ABV.

Feel: N/A

This imperial ale pours bright golden yellow with lacing white foamy cap from pint can. Notes of manufactured “toasted coconut” and vanilla flavouring, with lactose milk sugar notes. Sweetened strong ale packs a punch at 9.25% ABV. Hardwood Park Craft Brewery from Trader Joe’s.

Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer – Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Look: Deep golden colour, with a thin head and medium carbonation.

Smell: Brown sugar sweet with a note of butter cookie.

Taste: In line with the aroma: lots of sweet butterscotch caramel candy cookie flavours going on. The finish is also sweet with some alcohol heat but nothing over the top, so very drinkable as a dessert beer.

Feel: Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth.

Bought one can as an impulse buy at Trader Joe's just because I saw it on Instagram. I wouldn't buy this again but I think it's definitely worth a try. It's a fun beer to check out.

Where to buy

Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer is a seasonal offering, usually among the first fall items at Trader Joe's. It is typically sold as a four-pack of 16-ounce (1-pint) cans, but you can also buy a single can. A four-pack is $14.99, while a single can costs $3.75.

Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer is also available at some other retailers, including:

• Indian Creek Country Club
• Emerald Lake Golf Club
• Nortown Bowling
• Star Ship Held
• Untappd at Home
• Goochland Dump

You can also buy it online from websites such as BeerAdvocate and Untappd.

If you can't find it at your local Trader Joe's, it's worth calling ahead to other stores to check if they have it in stock. And if not, don't worry—there are plenty of other delicious Trader Joe's snacks to try!

Frequently asked questions