Blacklight Banana Imperial Stout – ABV 9.2%

This collaboration between Siren and Garage Project is a seriously-smooth drinking imperial stout with aromas of banana and chocolate.

Look: Dark black with a tan head.

Aroma: Banana and chocolate with rich dark molasses.

Taste: A creamy mouthfeel and flavours of malt, banana and treacle combine to give a slightly burnt bitterness to balance out the sweetness.

Food pairing: A great beer for drinking with desserts. Try pairing it with the burnt, creaminess of a creme caramel.

Verdict: Blacklight Banana was brewed as part of the 2016 Rainbow Project. We just wish Siren had brewed more of it.

Pompelmocello IPA – ABV 6.0%

The team at Siren say their objective with Pompelmocello was to make a beer as grapefruit tasting as possible. We think they nailed it; beers just don’t come more citrusy than this.

Aroma: Sharp, nonintoxicating sweet and naturally bursting with citrus

Taste: It delivers on extremes of sour and sharp, yet is so drinkable you could almost overlook the alcohol content and swap it out for a morning breakfast juice.

Verdict: Interested in sour beers but don’t know where to start? Start here.

Food Pairing: The sharp, sour flavours go perfectly with salty fried food. Drink it with a bag of good quality pork scratchings or crisps.

Ryesing Tides Rye IPA – ABV 7%

Citrus and tropical fruit, including grapefruit and tangerine American hops, zing over the top of spicy rye and a malty toffee base in this seasonal IPA.

Look: Pours gold and hazy with a thin white head that quickly vanishes.

Aroma:  Pineapple, grapefruit and peach with just a hint of spice the rye.

Taste: There is a velvety smooth mouthfeel and an explosion of pine, grapefruit and tangerine against a toffee caramel body – again with an accent of spice the rye.

Food pairing: Try pairing this beer with a scotch egg. The tropical hop profile works really well with the salty crispy outer, and the spice of the rye is a lovely contrast with the creaminess of the egg.

Primal Cut Smoked Porter – ABV 8.8%

Siren’s Head Brewer, inspired by blackcurrant purée, created this concept beer with smoked malts, barley and oats, for a coffee and soft fruit finish.

Look: The beer pours jet black in the glass

Aroma: Coffee, smoke and blackcurrant.

Taste: Roasted malt with coffee, chocolate and a definite meatiness. The alcohol is extremely well hidden in the rich soft body and the fruit subtle but becoming more noticeable toward the end.

Food Pairing: We think this BBQ sauce-style beer goes perfectly with a roast meat. Try it with beef and Yorkshire pudding for winning Sunday roast.

Verdict: Siren describe this as a high concept beer, and its definitely that. We don’t think you’ll have tasted anything quite like it.

Cookie Dough – ABV 7.4%

White Stout. The inspiration here was to recreate the sweet vanilla goodness of classic cookie dough, with chocolate chips for good measure! Rum barrel aged coffee adds a unique nuttiness and depth of flavour, while lactose, oats and wheat develop the smooth mouthfeel.

Odyssey 008 – ABV 8.7%

The idea for this beer was to create a blend inspired by dark Belgian wood-aged sour beers, based on the character of a few unique and long-term aged beers in the barrel store. The barrel-aged beers were selected for their aroma and acidity. After blending the beer was returned to barrels for another 3 months (in red wine barrels which part of the original blend was drawn, plus some bourbon barrels which previously housed Acid Jam). A small addition of seasonal British fruit was added to some of the barrels. The fruit additions total ~75g/L in the overall blend, consisting of 40% cherries and 60% blackcurrants.

The resulting beer has a gorgeous oak character with prominent red wine tannin influence, bramble & berries and a fruity acidity on the palate. Of course there’s a complexity too, and our tasting notes pick up floral notes, almonds, umami and a delicate funkiness the brettanomyces.

Fred in London – ABV 11.0%

Alan Hair of the Dog is one of our brewing heroes, so we were very excited to have him over to brew with us. This is a British rendition of one of his most famous beers, ‘Fred’, originally brewed in honour of Fred Eckhart – a craft beer journalist who resided in Portland, Oregon. It’s made with aromatic and rye malts and includes hop varieties around the world. Allergens: Contains Malted Barley, Rye

Forest for the Trees – ABV 8.6%

We’re bringing a touch of the west coast back home for this winter double IPA. Crystal and Vienna malts provide a hearty backbone and red hue, then we’ve gone all in on heavy hitting Simcoe Cascade, Centennial and Mosaic hops (including Simcoe & Mosaic Cryo® powder). Expect old school bitterness, evergreen aromas and punchy berry hop notes.

Shattered Dream Salted Chocolate and Caramel Edition – ABV 9.1%

Shattered Dream is the imperial version of our favourite breakfast stout – Broken Dream. Even more unctuous than the original, we’ve amped up the flavours to deliver sweet biscuit, dark chocolate and deep roasted coffee notes. This special edition contains cacao nibs, salt and speciality malts for a salted caramel undertone.

 

Hard Rollin’ – ABV 7.0%

The name for this collaboration with Dry & Bitter stems our mutual love of travel and oats! Rolled and malted oats in the grist here, along with lactose for a nice creamy body. There’s a hefty dry hop of Ekuanot, Hallertau Blanc and Mandarina for gorgeous dank and fruity aromas. Allergens: Contains Malted Barley, Wheat, Oats