HOBGOBLIN HALLOWEEN

Wychwood Brewery, at the heart of Oxfordshire’s dark and mysterious Wychwood Forest, celebrated this year’s Halloween with their biggest ever mix of ghoulish events in honour of their own Halloween Hero, the deliciously dark Hobgoblin ale.

As a build-up to Halloween itself, the brewery’s staff had spent their Saturday on the streets of Oxford dressed as hobgoblins and witches to ask the public:

“Afraid of the Dark, Lagerboy?”

- a reference to Hobgoblin’s seasonal interpretation of their highly successful “What’s the matter lagerboy? Afraid you might taste something?” advertisements, which now have a cult following. Converts to the Hobgoblin bandwagon displayed their new devotion by sporting ‘Not for Lagerboy’ stickers.

Halloween itself saw Wychwood throwing open its doors for the brewery’s first ever pumpkin-carving competition, judged by the Mayor of Witney, Peter Green. The works of art were then celebrated in ‘the lighting of the pumpkin’ ceremony and halves of Hobgoblin Dark Ale were handed to the grown-ups, with trick or treat bags for the kids.

Hobgoblin’s brand manager, Kate Blazey comments:

“The combination of over 1000 in-pub Halloween promotions for cask Hobgoblin and our more locally based activities have seen a record month for Wychwood, with over 700 barrels of Hobgoblin dispatched during the month. Halloween has really come alive this year and we intend to build the momentum even further in future years. This is an amazing achievement for the 21-year-old brewery which, when it started brewing in 1983 under Paddy Glenny, produced just 800 barrels a year.”

Fans of Hobgoblin can download the special Halloween advertising as desktop wallpaper from the Wychwood Brewery website: www.wychwood.co.uk. The site also features:

• The history and a tour of the brewery
• Full list of bottled and cask ales
• Local myths and legends
• Merchandise and beer sales
• Original artwork available as wallpapers, screensavers and e-cards