SIREN PROJECT BARISTA 2021

Celebrating Beer & Coffee

We’ve been big fans of using coffee in beer since we started out in 2013, in fact we have a beer that uses coffee in our core range – Broken Dream. This series aims to take the relationship between beer and coffee in new directions. First started in 2017, each year we team up with different independent roasters to brew creative, innovative and unique coffee creations.

This year, we're back with four more coffee incorporating brews. Purchase the cans individually or check out our Project Barista gift packs and mixed cases.

Press to Zest

An adventure in acidity, with coffee, lemon and souring with lactobacillus helveticus all competing for attention. Lemon is no stranger to espresso, with drinks like Mazagran and Iced Coffee Lemonade providing some early inspiration, along with its resurgence in recent times as a popular feel-good combination. We chose the coffee for its orange and bergamot notes, which came through really nicely in the whirlpool. Upon tasting, we decided some further additions would be required to pick up fuller, more robust and chocolatey coffee notes, which a warm steep in the spinbot and an overnight spin helped to layer up. Press to Zest is made with sea salt, which is often used to soften bitterness in coffee. We like how it gives us perceived sweetness, nice body and some roundness in a beer which inherently lends itself to sharpness. The result is a clean, balanced and refreshing drink with plenty of nuance to keep you guessing.

Press to Zest
Extra Special Beans

As a general rule, Project Barista beers tend to play fast and loose with beer style definitions. They tend to be made to meet a concept first and foremost, with our job then to make sure we describe the beer in a way that gives everyone a good idea of what to expect. This beer is a little different, as we take on a very well versed style of beer and give it a Project Barista spin. We’ve used a yeast strain that epitomises the style and made the beer with a more traditional fermentation profile than usual, helping to extract those delicious, delicate esters. We’re looking to exaggerate existing flavours and aromas of an ESB, so our coffee is selected for its apricot, light chocolate and nutty notes, infused slowly to make sure it remains balanced and not overpowering. We feel that nitrogenating beers can offer an experience similar to that of hand-pulled cask, which makes it a perfect choice here, but we also hope you find the acidity of the coffee adds back a little ‘zing’ that carbonation would otherwise help with. Well worth trying in all 3 formats.

Extra Special Beans
Caffè Lungo

Doppelbocks are big, strong, hearty lagers and we’re delighted to have an excuse to make one for the first time. It’s also a pleasure to work with Phil once more, who was integral to the first ever Project Barista in a former role, now back under his own Anonymous guise. Between us we selected a coffee for this beer that would stand up to it. Mirror it. A perfect match of profile that keeps each side of coffee vs beer one-upping the other as you drink it, with the real winners being us! To do this we used a blended espresso with exquisite plum, raisin and dark chocolate notes, the signature coffee at Anonymous. Part of the joy of Doppelbocks is their reassuring sweetness, but with relatively high alcohol it’s important that they don’t become cloying. Coffee plays into our hands here, with its inherent bitterness bringing balance. Caffè Lungo has spent a long time conditioning cold, so we followed that theme by spinning the coffee at just 1°C. Working this way gives us a very accurate idea of how the coffee will present after packaging, which is not always the easiest to judge. This beer is full bodied, packed with plenty of rich dark fruit notes and is remarkably drinkable. Meanwhile the clean, direct espresso hit means it truly is one for the coffee lovers.

Caffè Lungo
Mucha Mocha

Project Barista wouldn’t be complete without a showstopper. Although it’s fun to experiment with using coffee across all styles, it would be silly to try and deny it’s amazing in big stouts. As the name might suggest, cacao is making an appearance here in this indulgent beer, along with a generous pinch of vanilla. Undoubtedly though, this is a coffee beer. The beans were selected with the help of Quarter Horse who work with us on all our barrel aged coffee, this particular Brazilian variety being aged in our former Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels. The coffee itself is sweet, with chocolate, roasted almond and peanut butter vibes, plus the ageing process adding caramel, oak and whisky character. When adding barrel aged coffee we always use half beans and half ground, helping to lock in the barrel flavours. In terms of additions - all of them. Yep, coffee has been added at every stage of this brew, from both mashes onwards. Mucha Mocha is rich, with a slick sweetness and thick mouthfeel. There's an intense depth of flavour and complexity, with something different coming out of every sip, especially as it begins to warm in the glass. It’s everything we look for in a Project Barista stout, and we hope you love it.

Mucha Mocha
Gone but not forgotten....

If you've been with us for a while, you'll most likely have tried one of the many past Project Barista beers. From big barrel aged stouts to interesting sours and cocktail inspired madness - we love the experimentation. Have a look at some of the old Project Barista beers below - what do you think is in store for this year's set?!

Gone but not forgotten....
  • Press to Zest

    Press to Zest

    Sour & Saison | 4.5%

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  • Extra Special Beans

    Extra Special Beans

    Pale Ale | 5.8%

    Archive

  • Caffè Lungo

    Caffè Lungo

    Lager | 7.4%

    Archive

  • Mucha Mocha

    Mucha Mocha

    Stout & Porter | 10%

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  • Affogato

    Affogato

    Pale Ale | 6%

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  • Double-Double

    Double-Double

    Pale Ale | 6%

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  • Bourbon Turkish

    Bourbon Turkish

    Stout & Porter | 11.5%

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  • Ristretto Negroni

    Ristretto Negroni

    IPA | 6.7%

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  • Irish

    Irish

    Mixed & Speciality | 7.4%

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  • Affogato

    Affogato

    Pale Ale | 6%

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  • Breakfast Shake

    Breakfast Shake

    Stout & Porter | 9.5%

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  • CapHeine (2018)

    CapHeine (2018)

    Sour & Saison | 6.2%

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  • Cold Brew

    Cold Brew

    Lager | 5%

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  • Americano

    Americano

    9.1%

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  • capHeine (2017)

    capHeine (2017)

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  • Crema

    Crema

    4.9%

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  • Turkish

    Turkish

    10%

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