Now, I know it’s too soon to celebrate Halloween, no matter what the candy section at your local grocery store is telling you. But I am, truly, unable to contain myself. I struggled with the best way to let off some of my Halloween steam early and then the thought struck me: While most people are probably not in the mood for horror movies and gruesome make-up tips, they’re always in the mood for my beer reviews.
And, luckily, those same grocery stores are also shoving every fall and Halloween based beer to the forefront. So I’m taking it upon myself to review as many Octoberfests and Pumpkin Ales as I possibly can. All while listening to “Thriller”.
Up first, we have Wychwood Brewery’s Hobgoblin
With a name like Wychwood Brewery, I’m going to assume that Halloween is a yearlong thing for these folks. Their two beers I picked up at the store had scary themes. I’ve already forgotten what the other was and I’m not getting up to check, seeing as how the kitchen is now more of a trek from my chair for me.
This is a dark English ale (think Newcastle) , though not as dark as I’ve seen, it has a beautiful deep red color, which the photograph does not do justice. It’s very smooth tasting, surprisingly so and a bit sweet, though only a little bit. In all honesty, the first thing I thought of was apples. It’s a round, full flavor that just goes down so smoothly and without any lingering bitterness.
I’m surprised. I’m generally wary of breweries that go to such lengths for what appears to be a gimmicky label (it has witches riding broomsticks on embossed on the bottle itself, for God’s sake), but this is a solid brew and at five dollars for a pint bottle it runs cheaper than some other specialty beers that go for 7, 8, 9 dollars for a pint.
If you want a beer that gets you in a spooky, autumn mood, I can definitely recommend Hobgoblin.
I give it fifteen severed heads. And a Jason Voorhees.
-D-
dylancharles.net 
I will keep an eye out for this. I get lots of recommendations for “gimmicky” Halloween beers, and no matter how good the gimmick, there is NO EXCUSE for bad beer. 🙂 I do like Southern Tier’s Pumpking, but can’t find it on the west coast.
Pumpking just happens to be the second beer I reviewed and I think it is (or will end up being) the best pumpkin ale I’ve had. Honestly, this whole blog review series is just an excuse to try as many new beers as possible.
Clearly, I’m not writing on the correct subjects. 🙂
I’m going to have to disagree. It’s never too early to celebrate Halloween! I’m not a beer drinker though, so I won’t be trying this even though the name is awesome.
I’m sure some other random, non-beer, Halloween items will crop up in the next few weeks, ignoring what the calendar says.