Seasonal Halloween Beers

As the days draw close to Halloween, or historically known as All Hallows Eve, breweries up and down the country batten down the hatches and fire up their cauldrons as they prepare their annual mystical brews to ward off the evil spirits. In more common sense terms, it’s been a well-known fact that a number of breweries over the years have created seasonal beers in order to cash in on the Halloween season.  When we think of beers that have links to the supernatural, nightmare and other tropes of the horror genre, immediately the likes of Ghost Ship (4.5% - Adnams) and Trooper (4.7% - Robinson’s) come to mind, yet this a lazy assumption, since these examples are sold all year round, and are frequently retailed in many supermarkets and shops. There are a number of beers of this nature that fit into this bracket, like well-known regional examples like Exmoor Beast (6.6%), Pendle Witches Brew (5.1% - Moorhouse’s), Grim Reaper (6% - Keltek) and Hamster of Doom (5.8% - Ridgeway) for instance, they may be mistaken for Halloween themed beers yet these examples don’t count as these are brewed and sold throughout the year. To truly inhabit the title of a genuine Halloween beers, these releases are generally only sold during a limited period during the Autumn months. Little is known about these elusive ales as they are generally regional specific (sold in a limited area), sold primarily in cask only and on the whole haven’t seen nationwide coverage, particularly in the festival circuit. Yet in the dark nooks of the country’s floorboards lie a treasure trove of intriguing examples that celebrate the spookiest season of the year. 

Most breweries tend to stick to conventional subject matters like witches, werewolves, ghosts or even the humble pumpkin when it comes to naming their beers, witchcraft seems to top the list with examples like Hop Pot (3.8% - A.J.’s Ales), a wry title that is reflected in the pump clip which features an amusing pump clip featuring three witches boiling hops in a cauldron; Broomstick (4.2% - Evans, Evans) once described as a spookily dark amber beer; Hubble Bubble (4.4% - Charnwood) that echoes the iconic scene in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, 3 Witches (4.4% - Oakham) which was first brewed in 2005, the pump clip features three staff members from the time appearing as witches peering over a steaming cauldron; and Witch’s Brew (4.3% - Grainstore) which the brewery’s marketing department labelled as "a magically hopped beer, whose secret combination is known by few. Ghoulishly golden brown with a mysteriously pronounced aroma designed to bewitch the most hardened of drinker keeping away deadly spirits! Ghosts are also another popular subject matter with the likes of Phantasm (4.5% - Acorn) a suitably eerie Pale Ale brewed with New Zealand hops that was notably once sold of House of Commons bar in October 2018; or White Lady (4% - Lincoln Green) whose name is inspired by the ghostly apparition that is usually in seen in rural areas and is often associated with tragedy, such as murder, suicide and betrayal; even brewing giants like Greene King have cashed in on the act with their noteworthy Halloween staple Gangly Ghoul (4.2% - Greene King) that has been haunting pubs for over a decade. Werewolves also frequent the pump clips like Complete Howler (4.3% - Nethergate), a beverage seemingly inspired by ancient brewing traditions combined with modern innovations to create a timeless brew, Ravening Wolf (5.9% - Wantsum), whose nickname was given to Odo, Earl of Kent and half-brother of William the Conqueror, who was tried for defrauding the crown and Howler (4.2% - Wolf), which the brewery describe as a terrifyingly flavoursome golden ale, one of a wolf themed beers produced by the company.  Pumpkins are another popular draw for breweries, a notable example is Farmer's Jack O' Lantern (4.5% - Bradfield) a light hopped bitter that has been doing the rounds on a annual basis since 2010, and has since become available in mini-kegs and more recently in 330ml bottles.

Sometimes breweries stray away from these common themes and come up with intriguing names like Neewolah (4% - Salopian) which is basically Halloween spelt backwards, Harry Porter (5.2% - Milestone) a cynical take on the name of the main character from the series of popular children’s books and films; Strange Brew (4.1% - Twickenham Ales), a dark golden ale made with five different hops that intially resulted from the wrong malt going into the brew, Cornish Scream (4.3% - Skinners) once described as the original Cornish beer of Halloween, meanwhile the likes of Merlin's Ale (4.2% - Broughton) takes it's name from the claim that the legendary wizard lived in the Caledonian Forest and was buried in Broughton; Tormit Heed (4.9% - Firebrick) is inspired by the old Geordie slang for Turnip (pronounced Tormit) and until the late 18th century, Turnip Heads were used a jack o' lanterns before Pumpkins were widley adopted; whilst Frightfully Pale (4.3% - Rudgate) goes against the grain by presenting an exceptionally pale beer and Witch Hunt (4.2% - Bishop Nick) which strays away from witchcraft and instead memorialises the imprisonment and execution of Bishop of London, Nicholas Ridley who was burnt at the stake in 1555 for charges of heresy, whom happens to be the ancestor of the brewery’s current owner Nelion Ridley; whilst others tend to echo the spirit of the season like Treacle Treat (4.2% - Wadworth), a dark ale flavoured with treacle that conjures up childhood memories of walking down dark neighbourhood streets on the prowl for handfuls of sweets. Pumpkin spiced ales have increasingly become a popular draw since they were imported from the US, though breweries in the UK initially tended to stray away from their transatlantic cousins and combined elements of this style with local brewing traditions. Pumpkinhead (4.2% - Bridgehouse) is a notable early example first released in 2011, a copper coloured beer with an even bitter-sweet flavour profile and a dash of pumpkin; Warlock (4% - Dorset Brewing Co.) which first appeared in 2014, a traditional best bitter brewed with fresh pumpkin in the mix, latterly in 2016, New River Brewery marked their 50^th brew with the release of Pumped Up! (4.2% - New River), a golden ale flavoured with pumpkin, spices and subtle hop flavourings. Although a vast number of these Halloween themed seasonal beers have appeared in beer festivals throughout the UK, only a small proportion have been met with success. In 2013, Gothic Stout (5.2% - Enville) won a couple of plaudits including 1^st place at the Stoke-on-Trent Beer Festival and West Midlands Beer of the Year, Complete Howler (4.3% - Nethergate) was awarded gold medal at the Norwich beer festival in 2016, Hocus Pocus (4.6% - Loddon) won Silver in the Dark Bottle Beers category at the SIBA Beer Competition 2012, Gold (Bottled and Canned Dark Beers) at SIBA Midlands 2018, Gold (Old Ale and Strong Mild) – Gold in the Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2020; and more recently Stonedead (6.66% - Lymestone) won the Platinum Service Award from Best of British Beer. Perhaps the most high profile example is Black Cat (3.8% - Moorhouse’s), a legendary black mild which has been met with much praise since it first clawed its way onto the scene, it has won a number of awards over the years, including Champion Beer of Britain – Bronze (1998), Champion Beer of Britain – Gold (2000), Champion Beer of Britain (Mild) – Gold (1998 & 2000), Champion Beer of Britain (Mild) – Bronze (2002),  International  Brewing Industry Awards – Gold (2004), Gold (2011), Bronze (2013) to name but a few, proving that even Halloween themed beers can top the charts.

 

Over time most of these breweries tend to only have released one Halloween themed beer on a seasonal basis, though occasionally some have multiple examples in their books like A.J.’s Ales whom boast the likes of Hop Pot (3.8%) and The Devil Made Me Do It (5.2%), Salopian whom seasonally showcase the likes of Neewollah (4%) and Voodoo (4.5%) in their yearly schedules, or Milestone who feature such examples like Harry Porter (5.2%) and Wicked Witch (4.5%) in their books. Moreover, the Brentwood Brewing Co. have a history of producing Halloween themed seasonal beers such as Devil’s Dyke (4.8%), Haunted Holmes (4.4%), and their current release Spooky Moon (3.8%). Occasionally, breweries have produced alternative versions of their iconic brews, building on the success of their Gothic Stout (5.2%), they have also produced Ginger Gothic (5.2%), Cherry Gothic (5.2%) and a rare Summer only version called Summer Stout (5.2%) in 2016, all using the same base recipe. Meanwhile, Leatherbritches have developed a higher strength release of their Scary Hairy (5.9%) with a 7.2% export version, and Loddon have produced Hocus Pocus – Spiced (4.6%) an alternate version of their flagship old ale Hocus Pocus (4.6%) with the addition of cinnamon, clove and orange peel, which debuted in 2019. Yet Moorhouse’s has to claim the title for the most revisions of an existing beer, in this case  their flagship release Black Cat (3.8%) which includes the like Black Cat Reserve (4.6%) brewed with Junga hops, Blacker Cat (4.1%), a strong version also called Black Cat Reserve (7%), and a rare bottle only release (5%) to name but a few. Although many of these Halloween beers are uniquely produced, some rather cunningly are rebrands of established well known-beers, marketed as seasonal limited edition releases where in fact they are not. Obvious examples like Old Spooky Hen (4.8% - Moorland) are clear to see, whilst more opaque instances like Skull Attack (4.2% - Brains) is just a rebrand of the brewery’s flagship beer S.A. (4.2%), and Scary Mary (3.5% - Ilkley) similarly is a Halloween version of the brewery’s most notable product Mary Jane (3.5%). Sometimes brewers utilize existing core-range beers as the basis for their seasonal Halloween releases, such as Halloween Scream (4.7% - Kent), a special version of their flagship release Lemon Scream (4.7%) which debuted in 2021, it turns the original recipe on its head by turning it into a Black IPA with the addition of chocolate malt into the mix, or Fruit Bat (5.5% - Green Jack), first released in 2008, a strong bitter based on the brewery’s earlier release Gone Fishing (5.5%), but with the addition of plums to give off a sweeter and fruity flavour. The latter example is intriguing to note, as despite the fact it’s generally sold only around the Autumn months, the brewery offers to brew and sell it to consumers throughout the year on request. There are other examples of this hybrid approach, Ravening Wolf (5.9% - Wantsum) is available in bottle and mini-keg throughout the year despite it being only seasonally available on cask during October/ November, the same goes for the likes of Hocus Pocus (4.6% - Loddon) and Scary Hairy (5.9% - Leatherbritches) which are sold in bottle all year round, despite only being sold in cask around the Halloween period.

 

The variety of seasonal Halloween beer that are produced by breweries based all over the country are an intriguing bunch, whilst many feature original recipes, some are basically straightforward rebranding’s of core-range beers but with a different pump clip and name, though occasionally breweries push the boat out and develop new beers based on existing and established releases and thrown in some added ingredients to jazz things up like Fruit Bat (5.5% - Green Jack) or Halloween Scream (4.7% - Kent), for example. A large number of these seasonal releases tend to revolve around styles like Bitter, Best or ESB for instance and there’s nothing spooky about that. Yet there is a growing number that have increasingly diversified in there styles, from Black IPA’s, Porter, Old Ale, Blonde Ale, Stout and even Mild. There has been steady increase in the number of Pumpkin spiced ales, and even Red Ales are gaining proliferation, beers like Wicked Witch (4.5% - Milestone), Hubble Bubble (4.4% - Charnwood), Grim Reaper (5.5% - Wantsum), Blood Moon (4.3% - Derby Brewing), Poltergeist (4.2% - Elgood’s) and most recently Witch Hare (4.5% - Moon Gazer) are brewed in this manner and are suitably the colour of blood, which perfectly suits the spirit of the season. The success of these ‘established’ seasonal releases has not only led to a slew of awards for these beers, but building on their popularity, breweries have since released many of these beers in bottle conditioned or mini-keg form, with some examples going onto being sold all year round, due to their longer shelf life than cask. The production of seasonal Halloween beers goes back to at least the 1990’s, whilst many greats over the years have vanished into oblivion, others have remained, indeed established stalwarts like 3 Witches (4.4% - Oakham), Black Cat (3.8% - Moorhouse’s), Voodoo (4.5% - Salopian) and Fruit Bat (5.5% - Green Jack) have returned to the hand-pumps on a seasonal basis for over 15 years, and a number of breweries mentioned have brought back these seasonal Halloween themed releases on an annual basis more or less since they were first released. Moreover, the development of new and upcoming seasonal beers continues apace with examples like Hellfire (4.3% - Tring), Newsome Nightmare (4.3% - Great Newsome), Fallen Angel, Black & Chrome (5% - Church End), Bloodhound (4.4% - Nethergate/ Greene King) and Reaper’s Wish (4.3% - Oakham) being released this month. This evidently shows that clamour for new Halloween themed beers has not flayed away and will continue to creep around pubs for years to come.