The Haunted Drive Thru

We could certainly do with a bit more fun around here, although the summer gave us a bit of a breather and some good trading, the rain, the cold and the virus, has admittedly dampened our spirits and our sales. But you can never keep us down for long so we are making the most of the season and turning the brewery into a spooky, scary, haunted drive through experience. Whilst you parents are buying your beer, we can scare the living daylights out of your children, but all from the safety of their cars. If you don’t have children, no problem, just come along for a bit of a scream.

Grain started its beer Drive Thru back in March at the beginning of lockdown, so that locals could buy fresh beer in a safe environment, even though the pubs were closed. Although now less manic, but with lots of regular customers and always a few new faces, the Drive Thru is still open every Thursday and Friday afternoon, allowing customers to buy beer without having to leave their cars.

With many aspects of Halloween put on hold this year, children will miss out on their parties and trick or treating. Myself (Phil) and my wife Hilary, thought we could fill this gap, sell some beer and have a whole heap of fun at the same time, and I’ve always liked dressing up. It’s taken a while to get the rest of the team to buy into it (‘another of Phil’s daft ideas’), but once Grahame tried out his Zombie face-paint set for some photos, even his scary painted-on-teeth couldn’t hide his smile, so we’re going all out for it, and will do our very best to give you all some good ol’ Alburgh scary fun.

Ernie the skeleton

I’ve bought a dry ice fog machine, and although trial runs were a touch disappointing, I think it will set the right atmosphere for our zombie graveyard experience. But we are responsible people a Grain, so to ensure social distancing and the safety of your children, we will have our zombies chained up to limit their movements. And I bought the scariest looking masks I could find, and my daughter has volunteered to wear the creepy ‘Momo’ mask, as she has worked out that this is the best way ‘not’ to have to look at it!

I have been told to calm things down a bit, and not to terrify small children, so we will introduce a ‘safe word’ at the entrance, if we need to turn down the fear factor, and I promise it will be a fun experience for all the family.

There will be free treats for the children, but be warned, there may be a few tricks too. The scares are free, but please buy some beer from the phantom kiosk as you pass through. Just pray you make it out of the other side.