Maiden 2022
Siren Craft Brew

Poured from a gold-waxed 500mL bottle into a Smog City Brewing Co. snifter. Pours a fairly cloudy puddle water brown with a half finger of dark khaki colored foam head that quickly disappears. Aromas of cedar, prunes, raisins, cherries, light chocolate and even light toffee. Tastes mostly follows with more wood and dark fruits than anything else. Medium-full mouthfeel. Smooth and slick feel. An easy-to-drink 10% abv. More than decent barrel-aged barleywine.

Pours a light fizzy semi creamy small tan head with decent lacing, hazy dark auburn to mahogany color

Nose brings sweet malt, caramel, toffee, some raisiny dark fruit and prune, a bit of port-like waxy oxidation aged character, candy apple, a touch of butterscotch, touch of vanilla oak, smooth alcohol

Taste brings more of the rich malts, caramel, toffee, butterscotch, some dark fruits again, raisin, fig, more candy apple, some bitter spicy hops in the background, a bit of barrel notes and vanilla spice, more mild oxidation some winey waxy character, a bit of smooth alcohol, mild sticky finish, a bit more bitterness and alcohol notes

Mouth is med to fuller bod, a touch syrupy, low carb, mild smooth alcohol

Overall not bad, an aged English barleywine with mild oxidation a touch of barrel and touch of oxidation, good age, a touch of American barleywine hops character

Copenhagen 8/3 2025. 3,5 cl chubby bottle from Meny, Rotunden, Hellerup. A Maiden posing as a Figurehead of a ship on the white, black and golden label.

Pours opaque dark mahogany with a small off-white head. Bubbly. Settles as a thin patch of foam unable of covering the surface of the beer. No lacing to speak of.

Aroma is fairly intense with a sweet, sugary odor laden with alcohol. Potent. Brown sugar in abundance, bread and dark fruits. Raisins and plums marinated in alcohol. Sweet liqueur.

Low carbonation. Medium thick, oily, soft, a little greasy and sticky, almost flat texture.

Flavor is intense with a heavy sweetness followed by a very moderate sourish bitterness. Aftertaste is sweet and laden with alcohol. Lingering. Finish is dry and sugary.

Potent and very sweet Barleywine.

Pretty pour. Deep garnet hue with gleams of dark amber on the edges. A silky tan head rises almost a finger in height and slowly settles to a thin film. Thin layers of lacing slowly descend.
Nose presents a fruit-tinged version of a classic English barleywine. Yes there are the usual suspects: toffee, dates, figs, brown sugar and caramel malts. But there is a deep melange of dried fruits, vinous barrel, and mild spice that really brings some delectable complexity. In the flavor this definitely hints at various barrels. Me thinks brandy, whiskey, maybe a bit of a red wine aging too.
Mouthfeel is not heavy, but has enough heft to satisfy the port drinker. She's a sipper to be savored.

From the 1 pt 9 fl oz bottle in a snifter. This pleasant surprise of a barley wine pours a
deep mahogany with auburn highlights and a decent head of tan foam that settles to
a big bubbled ring, thin slumping layer, and sports some light lacing. Nose of brandy,
fig, date, spice cake, brown sugars, and light herbal notes. Flavors pack it in with
toffee, brown sugar, cherry, fig, date, plum, spice cake, subtle leather, and oak.
Mouth feel is smooth, light carbonation, lightly coating, nicely warming,
and finishing sweet with boozy alcohol notes that is faintly dry.

Overall, a STUNNER in the style. Excellent!

Cheers

 

Mellow, smooth and dangerously drinkable for the barleywine style. Siren's anniversary ale shows that they are indeed growing up.

Siren Maiden '22 pours with a mahogany brown hue with chestnut highlights before crowning with a skirt of coffee-tan froth. As the ale falls still, the hearty aromas of spice cake, dark fruit, dried fruit and boozy spice swirls around a sweeter and more savory scent. Malty-sweet to start, the early impressions of sorghum, honey, caramel and brown sugar give a stern structure to its overall taste.

As the sweeter ale flows onto the middle palate, the sweetness invites the fruity flavors of date, raisin, fig, plum, grape and berry to swirl into a fortified wine sort of savor once the barrels get involved. Toasty, oaken, pleasantly oxidized and leathery, the rise of port and sherry wines emerge before a broad and tea-like bitterness starts to balance the session late in taste.

Full, rounded and smooth, the barleywine is a masterful taste with just enough barrel character. Without unnecessary weight or thickness, the barleywine is a fine counterpart to fine sherry and port wines meant for an after dinner digestive.

Heavy fruit cake with some spices throughout. As it warmed, it became more bready. Also notes of dry red wine - likely from the barrels. This is fairly sweet with a light hop bitterness at the finish. When I looked this beer up, it noted being age in multiple different barrels including bourbon and wine. Given this is fruit forward (but not much raisin) and sweet, the flavors kind of makes sense.

 

Excellent. Not so much wine influence and given a finishing touch. Very drinkable. Alcohol warming though not detected in taste.Bottle at Birentenu, and why I come here for.

 

blind-tasted.
L- Very dark chestnut red, clear, pours with a 1Cm orange-tan fine-bubble head, impressive head for a 10%er.
S- Liquor-barrel.... hmmm, brandy? Otherwise seems light.
T- Boom! Rich deep malts, and fark fruits... a jolt of liquor (wondering now if it's rum) and it's resembling English Xmas pudding in a glass. In the finish there is a dry liquory twist of hops.
F- Big, deep, rich, fruity - unctious and well balanced.
O- Ideal for Xmas, for slow-sipping and perhaps even for sharing. Very polished.
375ml bottle from Trembling Madness in York. £10.25 ouch! Bottled 1/3/23. Gyle: G2196

p.s. Review done, now I looked at the Sirent site to confirm the barrels; hmmm, unclear. It states: 'Maiden is our Anniversary celebration, a blend of barley wine aged in a multitude of barrels sourced from the finest wine and spirit producers worldwide.'