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The Spookiest Brews for Halloween
Are you afraid of the dark...ales?
We’re throwing the spookiest Halloween party…in your home! Hop Culture’s favorite festival is back (Rosemary’s), baby! We started Spooky Brews in 2018, inviting people to drink scary beer and dress up in their favorite costumes for a night of ghoulish fun.
An immediate hit that became a cult classic on par with “The Exorcist” and “Children of the Corn,” Spooky Brews won’t be in person this year, but we are bringing the fest to you in one haunted box.
Inside, you’ll find ten of the most terrifyingly tasty tart ales, spine-chilling stouts, eerily enchanting IPAs, and paranormal pumpkin beers.
All from the nation’s top breweries.
Plus, anyone who orders the box gets two limited-edition Spooky Brews Nordic Cooler glasses!
For beers that go bump in the night…
Go ahead…
We dare you!
But if you want a sneak peek of things that terrify you, take a look at some of the spookiest beers in our Spooky Brews box.
Hop Culture’s Spookiest Spooky Brews
Jester King Brewery – Wytchmaker
Photography courtesy of Jester King Brewery
Rye IPA – First released in October of 2010, Wytchmaker could just be Jester King’s scariest beer.
Scary good, that is!
Brewed with Texas-grown San Jacinto Two Row and Wildfire Pale Malt from TexMalt, malted rye, and oats, Wytchmaker combines the peppery spice of a rye-heavy grain bill with assertive hop aroma and bitterness to create a singularly dry, early, and floral IPA.
Kettle hopped with Citra and El Dorado, and dry hopped with Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic Cryo, Wytchmaker has us saying: “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”
Widowmaker Brewing Company – The Devil’s Staircase
Photography courtesy of Widowmaker Brewing
Hazy IPA – Well, if we’re all sitting around the campfire telling scary stories, here’s one from Widowmaker. “If you have ever been in the taproom, you may have seen us ascending up some steep stairs to dry hop some tanks. Well, this beer gets its namesake from these hellish stairs that we affectionately call THE DEVIL’S STAIRCASE. This NEIPA is low ABV but jam-packed with sinister amounts of flavor. We scaled down the Polychronic series to a soft, crushable pale ale hopped with copious amounts of Citra + Motueka. We’re getting notes of peach, guava, and a hint of blood orange.” Drink if you dare. And preferably not while trying to walk up the devil’s stairs.
KCBC – Young Fruitkenstein
Label Courtesy of KCBC
Fruited Sour – One might say that the Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, remained haunted for four decades, devoid of a brewery until Zack Kinney, Tony Bellis, and Pete Lengyel cobbled together their own creation.
Since opening in 2016, KCBC immediately established itself with its explosive graphics of crazy undersea and mythical creatures.
Of course, what’s on the inside counts, and we can guarantee that the beer inside the can is just as incredible as the illustrations outside.
For instance, Young Fruitkenstein, an electrifying sour with currents of currants, strawberry, and guava. In the words of KCBC, “From the depths of our sourpower laboratory comes a freakishly fruity creation. IT’S ALIIIIIIVE!!!!”
Great Notion – Boo Berry Muffin
Photography courtesy of @greatnotion
Fruited Sour – The ultimate beer that goes bump in the night, Boo Berry Muffin from Great Notion comes back from the dead every year in the fall to “scare the hell out of your tastebuds,” according to the Oregon-based Brewery. This fruited sour brewed with real Oregon blueberries and marshmallow cereal, which would typically scare us in a beer, is just pure fun here—pure, delicious fun.
Mast Landing Brewing Company – Shake Up Your Bones
Photography courtesy of Mast Landing Brewing Company
Double Hazy – Most of the time, hazies go down real smooth—nice and creamy, luscious and fruity. We’ll admit that is true with Mast Landing’s version. But this imperial New England-style IPA called Shake Up Your Bones will also really rattle you. Courtesy of a big rush of Nelson, Simcoe, and Citra hops, expertly put together like a dancing skeleton.
Modist Brewing – The Time Is Nigh: Oak-Aged Festbier
Photography courtesy of @modistbrewing
Festbier – The Time Is Nigh might not look as scary as some others. But it’s always the quiet ones, right? Freddy, Jason, Michael Meyers, Norman Bates…should we go on?
Modist takes a Festbier with German Barke Pilsner, Vienna, and Munich malts, kettle-hops it with Brave and Hersbrucker, and then, wait for it…oak-ages it in foeders, essentially like Dracula’s beer coffin (because the beer comes to life after napping inside it!).
Hey, we’d become a Vampire if we could suck this beer’s blood all day.
Allagash Brewing Company – Haunted House
Photography courtesy of Allagash Brewing Company
Dark Ale – If you know Allagash, you know that Haunted House has become something of its own local lore. According to legend, Allagash brewed this “scarily balanced dark beer” because of a starstruck love for porters.
Full of roasted barley and Blackprinz malt, this beer churns out as dark as the night sky above a graveyard. Allagash shovels in Crystal, Chinook, and Saaz hops for a “dark beer cloaked in notes of coffee, malt, and a devilish hint of hops,” according to Allagash, “This beer ends with a ghost of coffee-flavored bitterness and hauntingly complex malty palate.”
Brewery Ommegang – All Hallow’s Treat
Photography courtesy of Brewery Ommegang
Pastry Stout – All Hallow’s Eve, the spookiest day of the year, when the barrier between Earth and the spirit world blurs, opening up realms of possibilities. Like this somewhat out-of-character pastry stout from the normally Belgian-focused Upstate New York-based Brewery Ommegang.
But knowing the beautiful fall in New York, this beer fits right in.
Like your favorite Halloween candy, All Hallow’s Treat packs dark chocolate and creamy peanut butter with a hint of vanilla. Gotta have an All Hallow’s Treat.
Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery – Paranormal Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Photography courtesy of @theflyingmonkeys
Pumpkin Beer – I see dead beers! For a style that might have died long ago, pumpkin beers continue to pop up like a cat with nine lives. Paranormal, an imperial pumpkin ale from Flying Monkeys, emanates wavelengths of pumpkin pie, graham cracker crust, and smoky autumn campfires, probably because of the real roasted pumpkin and the blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice going into this spirited mash.
But don’t let this subtle seasonal fool you. Paranormal packs more punch than the punch bowl at the Halloween dance—10% ABV. We wouldn’t blame you if you saw a ghost after drinking this one.
Rogue Ales – Dead Guy Ale
Photography courtesy of @rogueales
Bock – A super popular beer at Rogue, Dead Guy came into the brewery’s portfolio in 1990. First brewed for a Day of the Dead celebration, Dead Guy’s unique artwork draws people in. But it’s the beer that captures their taste buds.
“Expect big maltiness, especially because of the Munich malt and nice almost sweet finish but balanced out with just enough hops so that it’s not cloyingly sweet,” Joel Shields, Rogue Ales Brewmaster, told Hop Culture. “Dead Guy pours light amber with an off-white, thick head and finishes with a nice crisp hop bitterness and a touch of spicy hop notes.” Muahahaha.
