Wicked Good Beer

With the House’s annual Halloween Party less than a week away, we’re all getting excited.  Halloween is such a fun holiday, & we at the House always try to step up & put on a good show.  This year, we’ll be celebrating by tapping 7 pumpkin beers, some never before seen at the House.  The costume contest is always a good time, with some cool prizes up for grabs.  And starting October 22^nd, we’ll be giving away a Rogue Dead Guy Ale glass when you order Dead Guy on tap.  With each pour of Dead Guy, you can be entered into a drawing for a Rogue Dead Guy homebrew kit, so you can clone your own Dead Guy in your homebrew laboratory! 

All this Halloween talk got me thinking about some beers blessed (or cursed) with creepy names that are also scary good, to boot:

Night of the Living Stout, by Full Pint Brewing, an homage to Pittsburgh’s zombie heritage with really cool label art.  We’ll also be tapping this strong, roasty stout at our Halloween party!

Pumking, Southern Tier’s perennial favorite, is considered by many to be the standard-bearer for imperial pumpkin ales.  Legend has it that the ‘Pumking’ name refers to a wicked pagan harvest spirit, & this devilish ale will be making an appearance during our party as well.

Nosferatu , from Great Lakes Brewing Co., has been categorized as an imperial red ale or a stock ale, depending on the source.  Named after the original film vampire, this beer has a “bite” from the use of pungent Simcoe hops.

Hobgoblin’s brewery – Wychwood – should tip you off that this is a beer with something sinister in mind.  This dark English mild won’t turn you white, but it’s enough to cause some mischief.

Ichabod, from New Holland Brewing, is an ale brewed with pumpkin & spices.  Taking its namesake from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, this is one pumpkin ale to lose your head over!

The Beast, a big Belgian-style Grand Cru from Avery Brewing, is seductive & mixes truth with lies, namely in how smooth it is despite its 16.8% ABV.

Maudite might not sound frightening to us English-speakers, but translates to “the damned” in Quebecois.  Unibroue named this Belgian-style dark ale after a folk legend in which eight lumberjacks make a deal with the devil, & are depicted on the label rowing to the underworld.

Witch’s Wit caught a lot of flack for Lost Abbey from the Wiccan community due to its label, which depicts a witch-burning.  Far from soulless, the beer inside will still cast a spell on you.

Honorable mentions go to Helltown (makers of Insidious, Mischievous, Sinister, Devious, & Extra Sinful Bitter), Fantome, Reaper Ales, Surly Darkness, Three Floyds Dark Lord & Zombie Dust, AleSmith Evil Dead Red, Clown Shoes Vampire Slayer, Duvel, Lucifer, about a hundred other devil-themed beers, & plenty others I’m not thinking of.  So grab a good brew & let the dark side come out & play for a spell.  See you October 27^th for the party, & don’t forget your costume!