9th Anniversary - Twists & Turns!
It’s a pleasure (and quite surreal) to be able to reveal plans for our ninth anniversary. What started with three people in a small industrial unit in Finchampstead has grown beyond anything we could have imagined. As we look back on the journey, and forward to ten years and onwards, we’re celebrating all the twists and turns along the way. Here’s what we have in store.
LAUNCHING FRIDAY 17th MARCH - VENUES BELOW
Maiden ‘21
First things first, our anniversary barley wine, Maiden, will of course be taking centre stage. Maiden was the first beer ever brewed at Siren and is the first new batch brewed each year. It was always designed to represent everything we’re about as a brewery; creativity, experimentation, good fun, and most importantly, great beer. Maiden is a labour of love. Our American style Barley Wine is aged in a variety of spirit and wine barrels, before being blended back together with a percentage of fresh beer, to create that year’s vintage.
The barrels that have been used are left with 10% aged beer in them before being topped up with fresh Maiden, in what is a form of the Solera system. This means every vintage can be a totally different creation, despite coming from the exact same base. Likewise it has the potential to improve over time, as each and every year we have additional depth and complexity to call on from the barrels as time goes by. Stay tuned for more information about this year’s blend.
Twists - 7.4% West Coast IPA
We wanted to go back to our roots with Twists to make a West Coast IPA. Back in the day, our Flagship IPA Soundwave had serious west coast vibes, we probably pushed the style to the max with a team favourite collaboration with Boneyard - Dippy & The Equinox.
This beer takes influence from one of our favourite examples of the style in the world. We dry hopped in short, frequent bursts with Simcoe and Centennial, joined by Amarillo and Chinook at various points. It was given 3 weeks of maturation time during this process, while we naturally carbonated the beer to lock in all those incredible aromas. The 21.6 g/l dry hop is much higher than average for the style, giving us an aroma that really jumps from the glass. As a result, there is a subtle hp haze present - sorry, purists.
Twists is crisp and clean to drink. It’s got a beautiful resinous and piney character and entirely unapologetic bitterness that leaves you ready for the next sip. Malts are kept pale, employed largely to allow the hops to shine the best they can. We used a 6:1 ratio of So4 to Cl2 in the water profile, balancing the sweetness of the alcohol and allowing that fresh, crisp bitterness to work its magic. We cannot wait for you to try this beer.
TURNS - 11% Imperial Stout
On the opposite end of the scale, Turns is a luxuriously thick, decadent imperial stout. The combination of tonka and amburana wood has long been on the wishlist for Head Brewer Sean, and this seemed like a suitably big occasion to bring it together. The beer is inherently sweet with rich muscovado and burnt sugar notes, but the use of cypress and oak allow some dry tannins to gently pull it back. It’s a complex drink, with plenty of spicy, peppery and cinnamon notes bouncing around amongst vanilla, marzipan and a beautiful toasted malt character.
Some of the speciality malts were provided by Dingemans Maltings in Belgium, which Sean has previously visited. Their Biscuit and Special B varieties are particularly exciting. Around 1kg of tonka beans are used here, working in tandem with 150 Amburana spirals, 30 Cypress spirals and 30 spirals of medium toasted Oak. Click here for more information on wood, and how we get the most of it in our beers. Sabro hops are used for bitterness - so even in these small quantities, we’re hoping to pick up a hint of coconut to support the overall profile of the beer. Turns is a special creation - it’s heartwarming to drink and worthy of a big celebration.
Launch Celebrations - Friday 18th March
Despite the success of last year's groundbreaking online virtual beer festival, we're delighted that once again we're sending beer around the country for a host of launch events.
As ever, we've done our best to get out to as many venues as possible and hopefully your favourite bar is listed. If not, tweet them to us, or tell them to get in touch with us and we'll see what we can do.
Beer & Cheese Pairing
We're not saying goodbye to virtual events though, as it's a great way to interact with as many of you as possible. We've had some great feedback from people who might not be able to attend physical events, and that's important to us.
We're delighted to have teamed up with Butler's Farmhouse Cheeses to create an evening of beer and cheese pairing. Simply pre-order your box, and your 6 beers and 6 cheeses will be sent you fresh, and ready for the evening on Friday 25th March.
The beers will of course include Maiden '21, Twists & Turns, as well as our latest collab release with Turning Point Brew Co - Rational Haze.
: 10:00 25 August 2024Swallowfield Show 2024
Read MoreThis year's Swallowfield Show will take place on the 25th & 26th August, over the Bank Holiday weekend.
event : 00:00 15 October 2018Nicholson's Showcase
Read MoreSiren Craft Brew and Nicholson’s will be teaming up over 3 weeks in October to showcase an awesome selection of modern cask beer.
From the 15th October, all 66 Nichsolon’s pubs up...
: 18:00 3 November 2018Halloween Warehouse Party
Read MoreJoin us for a night of classic Halloween tracks in our spooky warehouse of terror. We’ll have a pop-up bar with some rare gems and old favourites, fancy dress competition, face painting, and plenty...
: 19:00 30 October 2018Crowdfunding Q&A Roadshow
Read MoreJoin Siren founder, Darron Anley, to get your crowdfunding questions answered whilst enjoying a host of great Siren beers!