Speculoos Cookie Butter Beer
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Pours slightly cloudy honey golden with thick but short-lived white head, minimal lacing. Aroma is caramel, butter, coconut and vanilla. Flavor follows the nose, cloyingly sweet with a heavy alcohol bite. Feel is medium bodied and adequately carbonated. Overall, gifted to me, wouldn't seek it out. Not terrible but too sweet for my taste.

It's really not great! A fine novelty, but not fun to drink; the high ABV and sour notes are so strange when paired with the flavorings—none of them coalesce into the supposed "speculoos" taste, instead all standing awkwardly amongst one another with folded hands and shifty eyes.

 

 

Like an alcoholic macaroon. I mean. That’s pretty much it. U keep wanting to drink it and it packs a punch.

Burnt orange appearance
Medium light carbonation with a slightly thin body
Aroma is butter cookie batter along with some mildly toasted coconut and vanilla
Taste is batter,coconut, butter
Its an odd one

16oz can that was a random find at my local Trader Joe's yesterday.

Poured into a non-stemmed glass (I'm pet-sitting, and, therefore, have fewer options than at my own place), this was a hazy, orange-amber, with a sudsy, tight, off-white head.

Rich, sugary, buttery aroma. Quite unusual for a beer, and seemingly what was promised on the label. As it warms, the toasted coconut and the vanilla vie for dominance. Bit of a ginger-like scent as well.

Flavor is much like the aroma, but stronger and, frankly, a little TOO strong at that. The vanilla could probably be dialed back some. The spiciness is a little too OTT as well.

Medium bodied, with a slightly creamy mouth feel.

An interesting idea that mostly comes off. It's just a little too fiercely like a weirdly overly sweet gingersnap cookie in the taste, and at 16oz per serving it's a little bit of a chore to get through in a way that wouldn't be nearly an issue in a 12oz can.

 

 

Made the mistake of buying a 4-pack for $14 at TJ's instead of opting for a solo can to try first. Usually when you see flavor descriptions for a beer, you think you will get a hint of the flavors on the nose or a slight taste somewhere in the glass. This ale full on punches you in the face. It tastes like if you pureed a coconut scented candle, poured it into a glass then opened a vanilla Glade plug-in and poured that on top followed by a stiff shot of rubbing alcohol. Could not take more than a few sips because the flavors were too overpowering and sickly. The added 9.5% ABV just embedded the flavors into my taste buds and the hairs in my nose. A total disaster of an ale. I promptly emptied all four cans into the toilet and flushed.

Poured from a 16 ounce can into a snifter glass.
L - Pours an orange color with a slight white head that dissipates slowly.
S - Smells of booze and cookie batter.
T - Tastes of orange and sugar cookie.
F - Medium body and carbonation on the lighter side.
O - Interesting beer, but I don’t think I could drink more than 1.

 

4-pack from, well.. Trader Joe
Very intense aroma and flavor. Aftertaste is strange.
It's way too much for my taste.

 

My cashier told me it was a sweet beer, so I was prepared for it to be a dessert beer.

I would have expected these flavors in a stout, but the coconut, vanilla, & cinnamon really works well in an ale. Vanilla & cinnamon on the nose. Sweet coconut, vanilla, & cinnamon to taste. The aftertaste is exactly as if you ate a speculoos (Biscoff) with a sip of ale.

Is this a beer I’d like to keep in rotation in my fridge? No.
Would I buy the 4 pack for the holidays and bring it out with a slice of pumpkin pie? Hell yes.
It’s a tasty special occasion, sweet, dessert beer. Highly recommended to try, but not an insta-buy.

Bought one can as an impulse buy at Trader Joe's just because I saw it on Instagram. Pours a deep golden color, with a thin head and medium carbonation. Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth. Aroma is definitely brown sugar sweet with a note of butter cookie. The taste is in line with the aroma: lots of sweet butterscotch caramel candy cookie flavors going on. The finish is also sweet with some alcohol heat but nothing over the top, so very drinkable as a dessert beer. I feel like this is more like a winter warmer type of beer that deserves a tulip glass. I wouldn't buy this again but I think it's definitely worth a try. It's a fun beer to check out.

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

Very cookie like. Not very beer like. A dessert beer. Won't finish.

 

Poured from a 16 oz can bought at Trader Joe's.

The beer is dark gold in color with a weak, off-white head. It is hazy initially, with chunky sediment at the bottom of the can. I don't know if that was intentional or a flaw. The aroma is spicy, herbal and strange. It reminds me of a gruit or maybe an overly-spiced Christmas ale. I get coconut and a distinct baking spice (maybe cardamom), but very little that is beer-like. The flavors are more conventional, but still have plenty of spice over bready malt and sweet alcohol flavors. The mouthfeel is thick and a bit cloying. Low carbonation and no noticeable hops bitterness, although the beer is not overly sweet. Alcohol is big and warming. Overall, this is not a great beer to me, more of a novelty. The concept of an Imperial Golden Ale sounds good to me, but the spicing and cookie butter theme are a bit over the top.