Halloween Beers

Halloween Beer

As Halloween approaches the evenings will be filled with sound of Children and families trick or treating and numerous parties will be held with people dressing up and using the occasion as a reason to make merry. In the world of beer some brewers but not all have begun the wake up to the fact that the public are looking for a themed beer to help them celebrate.

The ultimate Halloween beer is Hobgoblin. What a wonderful job Wychwood, aka Refresh, aka Marston's have done with this beer. It really took off under the leadership of Refresh where the then MD, Rupert Thompson saw the opportunity the Halloween occasion offered for their brand. Theming it to Halloween gave it a point of difference for licensees. Also the growing trend for pubs to hold Halloween parties made the beer a natural fit. Some simple in-pub POS to communicate the Halloween link and consumers began to get the message.

Of course Hobgoblin then went on to receive more heavy weight advertising especially around the goulish theme night and it's now become one of the UK's stronger ale brands. And yes, you can't build a brand around just one day, but it gave the beer that important initial standout. Why then in a saturated market do so many brewers still overlook the Halloween opportunity?

St Austell Brewery have been brewing Bucket of Blood for around five years. It has become a beer that consumers look forward too. They don't want it as their everyday pint, but they do want it for its novelty value and of course, coming from St Austell its a very good beer. At Swindon Beer Festival it has been the festival's Champion Beer in the past and this year it was again very popular and two barrels quickly sold out. Amazingly consumers remember the beer, I think its not the exact flavour they remember, but its that its good easy drinking beer with a quirky name they like.

I think what some brewers overlook is that they are servicing retailers and retailers want brands, or beers that will appeal to their customers at certain times of the year. The Halloween opportunity is a one off, once over with no one wants a beer with a Halloween name, but leading up to the event, it certainly gives both licensees and consumers a reason to buy it.

In a market where various beer styles and hops have become leading edge, a huge number of consumers still struggle to understand the meaning of them and the flavours they impart, so won't risk making a purchase. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this so perhaps brewers, rather then trying to invent the latest quirky mix of flavours should go back to basics a little and return to quirky names that suit a specific retailing opportunity. Remember, you have the give the consumer a reason to buy and a quirky seasonal name around Halloween is still a good reason!

Saltash Market

Our first excursion at Saltash market

It was a great pleasure to attend the first ever Saltash market with Craft Bottle Beers at the start of October. Saltash is the sixth largest town in Cornwall but really only separated from Plymouth by the expanse of the Tamar. I'm sure there would have been some local shops concerned about the effect the market may have had on their business, but these proved unfounded on the day.

The market took place in the town centre where a side street was closed to accommodate the stall holders, keeping them and the public safe from passing traffic. In truth the content of the market was a little disappointing with a few charity stalls, clothing and craft stalls, but a distinct lack of food and drink offerings. This was a great opportunity missed by many of the local producers as how else can you trade in a busy market town like Saltash for a minimum amount of money on a Saturday?

Diverse Events who organised the market on had done a good job attending the needs of stall holders and one hopes their efforts don't go unrewarded as this is potentially a great little market in its infancy. The reaction from the people of Saltash was certainly positive with many delighted that this new event might become a regular monthly feature. All it needs is a bit more support from the local producers and it could be really good.

For Craft Bottle Beers we did very well and certainly well on a par with other events we have attended. I've learned you can never predict the most popular beers and in true Murphys Law, the most popular beer style were Stouts and Porters, of which I had only a limited offering! The Bellinger's Gallipoli was soon snapped up with its First World War link proving very popular, whilst the Penpont Porter quickly followed to leave us with a few bottles of the tasty Hunters Pheasant Plucker, which also soon went. I guess as the colder weather approaches the darker beers have more appeal and that I should have predicted.

One hopes that the success of the first Saltash market, but more importantly its potential as a regular monthly event will start to interest more producers. Farmers style markets and craft fairs can have a significant benefit to small towns bringing in customers who visit specially for the market and also spend time and money in local shops so everyone wins. I'd just say to any potential stall holders, do book into the remaining events before Christmas, Saltash was very welcoming and you might be surprised how well you do.