Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

375ml bottle. Slightly hazy dark brown with a beige head. Aroma of dried fruits, raisins, date, figs, caramel. Taste is quite sweet, oaky, red wine, bourbon, caramel, figs, dates, raisins, boozy notes. Medium bodied, smooth. Very nice, if a fair bit sweeter than I remember previous vintages being.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle from Gedeelde Vreugde (presumably).
A: clear to hazy brown, thin, tan head.
A: liquorice, burnt caramel, candied fig, date, herbal liqueur (Schwarzwaldteufel).
T: very sweet fig, raisin & date, herbal liquorice, caramel, walnut, hazelnut.
F: herbal hops, dried fruits, sourish streak, warming liqueur-like alcohol.
P: full body, syrupy texture, soft carbonation.
A complex, delicate sipper.

Sweet and toasted malty with notes of molasses, fudge and toffee malts, dried fruit shred, nice body and mouthfeel, nice spices into the lingering malty finish. Lovely.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

31/I/25 - on tap @ DOK Brewing (Gent), BB: n/a (2025-52)

Clear dark brown beer, small creamy beige head, stable, non adhesive. Aroma: sourish impression, oxidized, dried fruits, maple syrup. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweet, very oxidized, bitter touch, lots of dried fruits, more oxidation, sourish, very oxidized. Aftertaste: maple syrup, sourish touch, dusty, spicy, a hint of soy, dried fruits.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle shared at the CBJ tasting, thanks to Fergus, 12/06/24. Dark mahogany brown topped with a beige cap that thins to the edge. Nose is dark fruit esters, caramel, light barrel tones, spice, figgy jam. Taste comprises fruit cake, light barrel, spice, herb, booze tunes. Full bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close with a balanced kiss of alcohol. Decent enough sipper but perhaps a little immature at present.

Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 9.5 | Flavor - 9.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Barleywine bottled last year and composed by brews aged in no less than eight different barrels which contained other spirituous beverages before, including red wine, rum, port and banyuls - a different composition each year indeed, and so far these Maidens never disappointed so I was looking forward to this one. 'Geuze' bottle (37.5 cl) with crown cap and wax, which did come off easily. Thick and creamy, very dense, membrane-lacing, firm, pale yellow-beige head towering over an initially clear, beautifully deep dark mahogany-bronze beer with ruddy hue, misty with sediment. Intense bouquet of oak wood soaked in red wine, banyuls, tawny port, caramel, dried apricots, figs soaked in brandy, Brazil nuts, dates, bourbon, some background 'coconutty' rum but oddly a bit less strong than the bourbon and the brandy which are proportionally lower in their contribution, brown bread dough, hints of white chocolate, maraschino cherries, Sultana raisins, nougat, old furniture, hint of toast, walnut oil, butterscotch, some black pepper, clove and gingerbread. Sweet onset yet nowhere cloying, with a faint touch of umami (beef broth) for good measure and a sourish note (red wine indeed) underneath, softly carbonated and dense, with impressions of dried figs, dried apricots, dates and raisins, moving on to a very full, multi-layered malt core, piling up slabs of dry caramel, walnut paste, pecan nut pie and brown bread crust with a dash of chocolate here and there, 'darker' and thicker than your average barleywine but still spot on for the style, developing a toasty-bitterish edging round an essentially nutty base. Meanwhile, this red wine tartness and 'dried' fruitiness gently and silently creeps in, becoming a bit more prominent further on when the wood does its job and produces tannic dryness and vanillin-like aromas - but the whole never moves one inch away from its main flavour track and nowhere does the wine effect become too tart or bothersome. Instead, this spectrum of other spirits set in, operating as a whole and therefore difficult to distinguish, but port, banyuls, bourbon and brandy are recognisable - rum oddly behaving quite restrained again and whisky and tequila adding some spiciness at the back but not really unveiling themselves. Woody tannins and that toasty aspect are supported in their bitterness by an undergrowth of spicy hops and warming, yet unastringent, multi-faceted alcohol, but the thick nutty, bready and toffeeish maltiness prevails, as it ought to be in this genre. Hints of that initial umami (proteins, in this case meat-like) persist, but never dominate and only add to the overall complexity. Wow - I am seriously impressed here, this is a truly delicious, utterly complex barleywine in which all of the contributing elements work together in harmony, forming a big 'block' of flavours that are perfectly aligned. One often sees these elaborate constructions when it comes to high-profile 'bières de dégustation' and more often than not, there is always some element which dominates, sings a false note or clashes with the rest, but not here: in this Maiden edition, all the subparts conglomerate to one beautiful, intense yet delicious, enticing whole. This is barleywine on another level - I love Siren, do not get me wrong, and I loved their previous Maidens as well (at least the vintages I had the pleasure to encounter), but this is high-class stuff and most certainly the most perfect Siren beer I had to date. Very close to perfection in this particular field, every sip unveils something new. Sincerely impressed - I only wish I would have had the patience to breed on this one for half a year more and enjoy it on a gloomy autumn night instead of a warm summer night. Doubtlessly one to store away in the cellar and forget about for many years to come. The term 'masterpiece' is in order here.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

15th June 2024
Near ckear amber beer, small bubbly pale tan head. Smooth airy palate , decent fine carbonation. Nice caramel cream malts. Lovely barrelling, this year seems to be white wine barrelling and Calvados, a little fruity bourbon mild vanilla oak. Light finish. Siren takes a leaf out of the Cloudwater book in as much as it doesn't condesend to inform you as to what your drinking. Still,.a very nice barleywine.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Bottle shared at CBJ - cheers to Fergus. Pours unclear amber with a creamy, khaki head. Medium sweet flavour, woody, meaty, some floral and piney notes, a little funk. Medium to full bodied, lightly oily, with fine carbonation. Sweet, lightly warming finish. Tasty.