Cider may not be the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to Hallowe'en, but Strongbow has made a concerted effort to ally itself with October 31.
While it provides a convenient means of prolonging summer and autumn sales of cider into the beginnings of winter, Fiona Seath, brand manager at Strongbow, believes licensees are keen to get a point of difference in their pubs and will gladly get involved with brands that invest in them.
"We are the only national brand that consistently helps licensees over Hallowe'en," she says. "Our activity has increased on-trade sales of cider over the last two years. Consumers see us as an all-year-round brand. We are not just a summer cider."
In-pub Strongbow scratchcard promotions in 13,500 participating outlets will run alongside the brand's sponsorship of Most Haunted Live on Living TV on Hallowe'en night. A wide range of point-of-sale (PoS) material will be available including posters and table cards.
But if beer is your bag, a number of regional brewers have brews to suit your Hallowe'en needs. Hobgoblin, from the Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire, has made a big pitch to be the official beer of Hallowe'en.
Brewery owner Refresh UK's managing director Rupert Thompson has already expressed a wish for Hobgoblin to be seen in the same way that Wells & Young's Bombardier is seen on St George's Day.
"Hobgoblin is a wonderful brew for Hallowe'en celebrations," he says. "The inclusion of chocolate malt in its recipe gives it a dangerously moreish toffee/chocolate flavour making it the perfect party potion for Hallowe'en revellers."
As a result there will be a large amount of promotional activity surrounding Hobgoblin at Hallowe'en. The brand is taking advantage of its famous 'What's the matter, lagerboy?' advertising campaign by running a Hallowe'en-themed treatment called 'Afraid of the dark, lagerboy?'. The £375,000 campaign is expected to reach 3.5 million people.
More than 3,500 special Hallowe'en Party Night kits are being dispatched to pubs featuring Hobgoblin's exclusive flashing pump clip as well as "Afraid of the dark, Lagerboy?" PoS materials.
Wychwood's website, www.wychwood.co.uk, will also be running a competition to win beer-for-a year as well as featuring Hobgoblin's pumpkin carving competition, which was introduced last year.
Refresh UK expects at least 5,000 pubs to be selling Hobgoblin over the Hallowe'en period - with an anticipated sale of more than a million pints.
However, if one brewer has a claim to brew a beer that is the beer of Hallowe'en, ahead of Wychwood, then it has to be Moorhouse's. Its flagship ales, Pendle Witches Brew and Black Cat, hit the mark when it comes to Hallowe'en beers. Both are on promotion with WaverleyTBS and Carlsberg and are available to licensees tied up in big pub company estates through the Society of Independent Brewers' Direct Delivery Scheme.
In addition, five special ales will be available to freetrade customers in the run-up to October 31, each backed by in-pub promotions. The special blends on offer, as with Moorhouse's regular brews, celebrate the legend of the infamous witches who inhabited Pendle Hill, near the brewery in Burnley, Lancashire, in the 1700s.
Promoted under the strapline 'Which Craft Ale will you be drinking this October?' they are: Witchfinder General (4.4 per cent ABV), Witchcraft (4.8 per cent ABV), Black Witch (4.2 per cent ABV), Witches Cauldron (4.2 per cent ABV) and Broomstick Bitter (four per cent ABV).
"Last year Hallowe'en was truly magical for us - even bigger than Christmas," says Moorhouse's managing director David Grant. "We pre-sold all the beers so pub cellars throughout the North West and Yorkshire were bursting with our ales in the run-up to the celebrations. From licensees' point of view Hallowe'en is a chance to create a big party in the pub and a great evening in their community."
Moorhouse's is also supporting 40 of its freetrade customers by hosting Hallowe'en parties, all including visits from Moorhouse's Pendle Witches.
Pendle Witches Brew itself, meanwhile, is one of the Hallowe'en-themed cask beers on wholesaler WaverleyTBS's list for October. The others are:
- Centurion's Ghost (5.4 per cent ABV), York
- Halloween Surprise (3.9 per cent ABV), Old Mill
- Nessies Monster Mash (4.4 per cent ABV), Cairngorm
- Wicked Witch (4.6 per cent ABV), Marston's.
It also recommends the following brews with an autumnal feel:
- Piddle Through the Leaves ( 4.1 per cent ABV), Wyre Piddle
- Ruddy Glow (4.5 per cent ABV), JW Lees
- Schiehallion (4.8 per cent ABV), Harviestoun.