The origins of Easter ales date back to medieval times, when monks were ordered to fast during Lent following an edict ordered by Pope Pius V, Simmone Massenza notes “the faithful had to abstain from eating for forty days. It was, therefore, necessary to have a beer that was stronger, thicker, and more nourishing than everyday beer.”[1] Some accounts state Easter Beer was established in Germany, with the likes of Fastenbier, a smoked Rauchbier developed by monks in Bamberg, Upper Franconia in the 12th century, or Bock beer which was produced by the Paulaner monks of Bavaria (c.1600), a strong ale produced the Winter months for consumption during lent. Heather Truckenmiller notes “later, discontent with the strength of Bock style beer, monks developed an even stronger variant known as Doppelbock, meaning double Bock. This beer was so laden with nutrition that some dubbed it “liquid bread.”[2] Meanwhile in early modern England, church congregations frequently developed a Church Ale for Easter Sunday, consisting of warm, thick, dark homemade ales produced to accompany the social activities over the Easter weekend. The earliest modern commercial use of Easter Ales dates to early 20th century Denmark which came about in response to counter the growing popularity of Doppelbocks. The Danes developed a style known as Påskebryg, a pale lager produced through top fermentation with an alcohol content between 5% - 7% typically. Beers like Tuborg Påskebryg Carl's Påske and Fynsk Forår became established names, and by the 1950’s, Massenza points out that these beers had become increasingly popular with Easter themed motifs (such as rabbits, hares, chicks, eggs, and daffodils) featuring on bottle labels. While Denmark is often considered the capital of Easter beers, in the UK meanwhile, Easter themed beers have struggled to gain traction, due to poor promotion and lack of faith among brewers to tap into this market. The lack of popularity for these beers are in stark contrast to Christmas Beers which have more or less become an established industry in the past few decades.
Across the home counties, there have been examples of Easter ales such as Hot XXX Buns (3.9%) – Brentwood, a session bitter infused with lemons and spices to create a taste reminiscent of Hot Cross Buns; Hoppy Bunny (4.5%) – Wantsum, which notably features a distinctly hoppy mix of Idaho 7, Citra & Mosiac hops in the traditional American IPA style; and on the stronger end of the scale Easter IPA (6.8%) – Pope Yard, released in 2016 it was promoted as a cross between Simnel Cake and hot cross buns with aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger thrown into mix giving way to a lingering spicy aftertaste. In more recent times we have seen the likes of Pure Hoppyness (3.9%) – Mighty Oak, a hoppy golden ale with a floral background, true to its name it features a multitude of hops including Columbus, Keyworth, Early Calypso, Chinook and Mount Hood; accompanied by an equally varied malt bill featuring Munich, Vienna, Pale and Marris Otter; and Easter Ale (4.5%) – Chiltern, an English pale ale (made with Jester & Godiva UK hops) which was released as part of their monthly small batch releases last year along with their Easter Amber Ale (4.5%), it was described as having notes of gooseberry, grapefruit and lychee, making it a perfectly rounded Springtime pint. While most Easter themed ales tend to be pale ales, IPA or bitter, some have bucked the trend like Thumper (3.9%) by Gipsy Hill Brewing, a chocolate stout made in collaboration with CBGB (Craft Beer, Good Banter), the craft beer Meetup group. It was first released in March 2020 as part of their Illustrator Takeover series, showcasing a series of cans featuring artwork by a set of guest illustrators; the artwork for Thumper was designed by David Biskup which features the likeliness of CBHB’s co-founder in a bunny costume. More recently, the likes of The Egg Cracker (5.1%) by Acorn attempted to recreate the flavours of an Easter egg in beer form, described as a white chocolate stout the beer was developed upon the return of brewery founder Dave Hughes who took back the brewery in late 2024 when Sonas relinquished control of the 25-barrel brewery. To celebrate the brewery’s independence, he was inspired to produce a Reboot series of beers featuring six limited edition ales. Hughes noted “while the Reboot Series brings a touch of nostalgia to revisit brews from our early days, we also promise exciting and innovative new rollouts to meet the needs of a keenly competitive market.”[3] The Egg Cracker was a new release, combining smooth vanilla notes of white chocolate with a potent roasted malt bitterness.
The erstwhile Easter Bunny has
been a common theme among Easter ales, from the likes of Rabbit Punch (4%) –
Coach House, to Hare Brained (4%) – Loddon. Some breweries have even
employed clever marketing campaigns, like Bad Rabbit (4.1%) from Church
End. When it debuted in 2011, the brewery teamed up with advertising agency Ress
Bradley Hepburn, portraying the Easter bunny as a thief, vandal and arsonist.
They mentioned in their blurb the easter bunny is not bringing chocolate eggs he's
bringing chaos and a damn good ale. An RBH representative stated “if he dishes
out eggs, it's only to distract you while he nicks your wallet, makes off with
your plasma screen and does something unspeakable on your daffodils.”[4]
While the beer is a traditional deep-brown session bitter, it featured burnt
malt overtones and a hop heavy flavour profile featuring Mosaic and Amarillo
hops sourced from Charles Faram based in Malvern, who supply hops from all over
the world. In 2022, Wild Beer Co. released One a Penny (5%), described
as a New Zealand IPA without the hops, combining the distinctive flavours from
a hot cross bun, by adding raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla
during the brewing process. The brewery caused quite a stir in the local press
at the time with this release, co-founder Andrew Cooper told reporters “at the
Wild Beer Co. we love to get creative with our flavour combinations and produce
beers that pair harmoniously with and are inspired by food.” During the
development of this beer, he reportedly sampled 15 different hot cross buns, in
order to understand the bready sweet flavours and complex spices; as a means
of reflecting the flavour of hot cross buns accurately in the beer. The same year, brewing giant Badger (Hall & Woodhouse) cashed in on the Easter
market with their Hop Cross Bun (4.2%), a bitter combining spices, rich
fruit notes and bready notes with a varied malt bill of Amber, Crystal, Munich
and Caramalt, they dubbed it a real taste of Easter with not a bunny in sight. While
the beer was sold in cask at selected Hall & Woodhouse pubs during the Easter
Weekend, the following year they also produced a bottled version in partnership with Sainsbury’s through
their Taste the Difference range. Youtuber and prolific beer reviewer Simon
Martin from Real Ale Craft Beer described it at the time as having a creamy
mouthfeel, a distinct hot cross bun flavour with citrus, nutmeg and a peppery
spiciness on the backend.[5]
While most Easter themed beers tend be stuck in the endless doom loop of limited releases and are eventually forgotten about. Some have bucked the trend and have reappeared on an annual basis, like Bad Rabbit (4.1%) – Church End since 2011, Hoppy Bunny (4.5%) – Wantsum since 2018 and Rabbit Punch (4%) – Coach House since 2022 respectively. For several years since 2014, Great Newsome treaded the boards with their seasonal number Hops in Spring (4.5%), it was markedly their first IPA made with a 100% English hops including Admiral and Northdown for bittering, and Progress for aroma, an underused hop first commercially grown in the 1960’s. While the beer has the conventional notes of citrus fruits commonly associated with this style, it was billed as a celebration of the diverse range of English hops. In more recent years, Easter Ale (5.6%) – Harvey’s has gradually established itself as a major player of the Easter beer front. It was first released in April 2021 to mark the reopening of pubs following lockdown, the beer directly takes its influence from monastic brewing when strong ales marked major feast days, they claimed that after the six-week Lenten Fast, monks brewed a feisty ‘Easter Ale’ to celebrate, though this evidence is spurious at best. In the fine tradition of Easter Ales, it was originally produced to a higher ABV of 6.5% before it was reduced a few years back, and unusually for an Easter Ale, it is also sold in bottle and is available in the latter all year round. This beer has won a slew of awards from Gold at the Beer Bottler’s Institute Competition 2024 and the same year it won Silver in the Pale Ale category at the World Beer Awards and last year it gained a Bronze at the International Beer Challenge; thus, proving the potential for British based Easter Beers to attract global recognition. The success of Harvey's Easter Ale (5.6%) shows their potential for locally UK produced Easter ales to go beyond the cottage industry of limited edition and locally distributed releases, and gain wider recognition. While Easter beers may never gain the lofty status of their Christmas forebears, through good promotion and ingenuity, these beers may have more of a chance of success, rather than being just a flash in the pan after-thought by the marketing department.
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