More than 700 beer fans made their way to Siren Craft Brew in Finchampstead on Saturday for the brewery’s 13th anniversary celebration.
Photograph: Laura Fecoli/Siren Craft Brew
As well as 50 lines of beer pouring, there were three specially-brewed Siren Craft Brew anniversary beers, guest breweries, live music, and street food vendors.
Thirteen can be seen as an unlucky number, and the brewery leaned into the theme of ‘Superstitions’ for the event. Guests were treated to fortune cookies, paper fortune tellers, and beers including Zestiny, Lucky Numbers, and Shattered Mirror.
In fact, it was one of the brewery’s most sought-after anniversary events ever, with kegs of the birthday beers completely sold out after the launch weekend. Lucky Numbers has made waves, with a great score on beer rating app Untappd, and is a best-seller online already, within the short window of its release.
The first beer to sell out on the day was The Pilot, a 5% ABV hazy pale ale which has just been re-released in the Siren Craft Brew webshop, and which is available at venues around the UK.
There was an international flavour to the guest breweries on site, with Oso Brew Co, from Madrid, joining Left Handed Giant (Bristol), Pomona Island (Manchester), Kirkstall Brewery (Leeds), and Abyss Brewing (Lewes).
“What a day celebrating 13 years of Siren,” said event co-ordinator Brodie Caress. “Opening up the brewery and allowing people inside was a fun project to take on — it isn’t something we do every day.
“It was a nice change from being over at the Tap Yard, as it has been the past three years. It was a challenge to get the right layout for the event, but, overall, I would say it worked and flowed nicely.
“The live bands were incredible, along with some of our favourite guest breweries. I definitely had a couple of Lucky Numbers throughout the day, which is my favourite of the four anniversary beers. They’re all amazing, but this one stands out above the rest for me.”
Darron Anley, founder of Siren Craft Brew, added: “Thirteen years in… we’re still independent, still experimenting, and still making beers we love. Speaking of which, this year’s anniversary beers are inspired by superstitions. There are three limited edition releases alongside our annual Maiden barrel-aged barley wine release.
“My personal favourite is Lucky Numbers, an IPA that captures all the good fortune we can get. It’s tasting delicious and just might be one of our best IPAs we’ve ever made.
“If you missed out on a ticket to the party, don’t worry; there are 80 launch sites across the UK pouring these beers now, including our Tap Yard and flagship bar in Reading. Thanks for being part of it. It genuinely means a lot.”
