Fundraising brew is personal for Siren
A FINCHAMPSTEAD brewery has re-brewed a beer to raise money for Ukraine.
Siren is selling a batch of an imperial stout first produced in 2018, which it made alongside a team from Kyiv-based Varvar Brew.
The 11.4% drink is named Mavka, after a type of female spirit in Ukrainian mythology.
Managing director of Siren, Darron Anley, said that the decision to relaunch Mavka was made within days of the invasion.
“What is happening is heartbreaking,” he said
“Our friends at Varvar moved to Kyiv in 2014, when Donetsk was occupied by the Russians.
“They had plans to work towards gaining an appellation of origin for a Ukrainian golden ale this year.
“They have had to leave everything behind for a second time, and the brewery’s future is under threat.”
The brew day for the 2022 batch of Mavka took place on Friday, March 11.
Some 3,000 litres was made, enough for approximately 6,000 cans.
Since it was announced in early March, pre-sales have sold half of the batch and have fetched around £15,000 for the appeal.
The recipe includes the coffee flavour of Siren’s award-winning stout, Shattered Dream, and Varvar’s Caribbean Dream, a porter infused with coconut.
The collaboration between the two
breweries came about through meeting Lana Svitankova, Varvar’s international sales representative, at a number of events.
“Lana came to visit in 2018 with Vasily Mikulin, who founded Varvar, and Igor, one of the brewers,” Mr Anley said.
“Igor didn’t speak any English, so there was lots of pointing and gesticulating at times.
“But we managed to smash together techniques and ingredients from both our breweries to create Mavka.”
Mavka has since been brewed in both Finchampstead and Kyiv.
This batch of the stout is part way through its four-week stay in
fermentation tanks. Next, it will be put though a “spin bot” to infuse the coffee and coconut.
It will be canned and ready to go early next month.
Mr Anley said that Ms Svitankova had moved to Switzerland prior to invasion, and that Mr Mikulin is also safe.
He has yet to hear about Igor.
All proceeds from direct sales will go to the #DrinkersforUkraine fundraising appeal for the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Fund.
Proceeds from trade sales will be donated where possible.