Cacao & Cherry Broken Dream
Siren Craft Brew

Black, scarce foam, light brown colored.
Ocoa smell, dark malts, hint of roasted. Cherry. Cappuccino.
Quite sour taste, from dark malts, but even from the fruit. Unbalanced.
Same notes of the smell, but definitely too sour.

Pours onyx black with a huge, fluffy beige head.

Smells of charred coal, ripe cherries and flowery vanilla among fresh pressed coffee and bitter chocolate.

Drinks fuller, with a smooth mouthfeel, uplifted by a late, well nuanced effervescence.

Tastes of bitter chocolate, glazed caramel, sugar coated cherries and dry, wooden and chocolaty coffee beans among melting milk chocolate. The sweet- and roastiness are on par in this, making the beer very enjoyable and well balanced with some toasted malts cutting through. Finishes with lots of almost smoky turning coffee, lighter blueberries, walnuts and of course sweet, well fitting cherries among a lasting, dry and roasty finish.

I initially didn‘t have my hopes up too much since adding cherries to a great beer does not always improve said liquid. It is working quite well in this one though, due to it‘s great balance. The beer manages to unfold a very unusual, yet intriguing flavor composition, slightly enriched by the fruits.

L- Superficially black, but with a halogen torch held behind it I see a flash of deep ruby red. Pours with a 1Cm mid-tan head.
S- Roast 'n smoke, reminds me of a morning-after log fireplace.
T- Different, fireplace embers, deep-roasted, smoke notes, then a pungent fruit note interloping in. Pretty obviously this is the cherry of the beer's name, though I'm not sure I'd have got that blind. It comes over as tangy fruit, a bit sour, any specific cherry character might be being bludgeoned by the roast+smoke.
F- Pungent. It's pretty full-on though on the brighter/dryer side of things. I started this one off fridge-cold, and +10mins I see no risk of this becoming rich or sweet by the finish. It is intense though, for sure.
O- Different. Full-on, a slow sippin' beer well suited to winter. I reckon it's one of those beer styles that either works for you or not, it's different and $$$, there isn't room for prevaricating with something as boldly different.
440ml £4.05 can BB: 30/09/2021 Bought from TremblingMadness/York
Interesting to try, no problem finishing it, though I wouldn't buy it again.

440ml Can from Morrisons supermarket (£3.50):
Dark mahogany to black with a half centimetre head that's foamy & beige but covers the surface & holds well before eventually breaking up a little. It's dark on the nose with oats, coffee & some earthy malts then some milk chocolate & sugars near the end but there wasn't much cherry showing. The beer tasted quite strong with dark, earthy malts & coffee seemingly the most pronounced then some chocolate flavours, a tiny bit of cherry & a little roasted bitterness then some oats to finish. The beer is full bodied & quite smooth with soft carbonation & a good balance, the alcohol content it well hidden too but I only got a minimal amount of cherry with this one.