X.O. / 330mL
6.6% ABV
X∙O is a 5 YEAR BARREL-AGED WILD ALE
Umami / Wild / Savoury
Glossary
Aged Hops
We have our own in-house hop-ageing program. Whole hop flowers are dried slowly and aged in our brewery. Aged hops don't impart bitterness like fresh hops, and they offer anti-microbial characteristics, making them great for keeping particular unwanted microbes out of wild ales. Aged hops are traditionally used in making spontaneously fermented Belgian Lambics and Coolship ales.
Barrique
The French word for barrel. Specifically it refers to a 225 litre wine barrel.
Bâtonnage
Refers to the technique of lees stirring. During fermentation in barrel, the wine-maker (or in our case, brewer), periodically rouses the wine lees that have settled to the bottom of the barrel, normally with a specially-made metal rod or chain. This allows the yeast and other particles that have dropped out of suspension to achieve greater contact times with the fermenting beverage. It's a technique traditionally used in the creation of many white wines, notably Champagne, to bring texture to the final product.
Bottle Conditioning / Bottle Re-fermentation
The process of adding live yeast at the time of bottling. This specialised technique allows for further flavour development and carbonation (creation of bubbles) in the packaged form, leading to a softer and more gentle carbonation.
Brettanomyces
Known as "Brett" to its friends, Brettanomyces is a type of yeast common in wild and farmhouse brewing. Often found in the wild (and subsequently in wild-fermented and barrel-aged beers), we have a number of number of wild-caught strains we discovered and isolated in our brewery a number of years ago. The French oak barrels that line the walls of our brewery also harbour Brett within the grain of the wood. Brettanomyces is an exciting yeast - yielding complex flavours that vary depending on the usage of the yeast. Under certain circumstances, Brett yeast yields characters of forest floor, barnyard and funk, while at other times it may bring vibrant tropical and stonefruit.
Champenoise
A reference to the mèthode champenoise or mèthode traditionnelle of Champagne wine.
Co-fermentation
Fermentation using more than one sugar source. In our case - our wort (unfermented beer, where malted barley and sometimes wheat grain supplies sugar) and often fruit such as a wine grapes.
Coolship
(Also koelschip) A traditional vessel - rectangular, shallow and open-topped. So-named as it is the vessel in which hot wort is cooled slowly, and it is shaped kind of like a boat! Used for the creation of fully spontaneous beers such as the Belgian lambics - commonly known as Coolship ales when brewed beyond the Senne Valley. Ours is the first commercial authentic commercial Coolship in Australia - in use since 2016. When visiting our brewery in Reservoir, you can see our Coolship which takes pride of place above our bar!
Expression of Time, Place & Season
Per the traditions of wine, beer was once always an expression of where, when and by whom it was brewed. This attitude has largely been lost, with modern commerical brewers normally taking a cookie-cutter approach to highly repeatable beers that fit nicely into a specified category. We champion the spirit of the more traditional farmhouse methods, using seasonally available ingredients, with minimal intervention from the brewer to create beers by intuition that are unique to their moment in time. This means exposure to the wild microbes present in that place and time, with local weather and climate dictating the rates of fermentation.
Farmhouse Brewing
Brewing in line with the centuries-old traditions, methods and spirit of the farmer-brewers (or saisonierres) of Western Europe - namely the French-speaking region of Wallonia in southern Belgium. In those days, beers were made by farmers, for farmers to drink after a hard day toiling in the fields. They were first and foremost for the purposes of nourishment. They were brewed with what was on hand, with provisions stored for consumption throughout the peak working months summer. For us today, farmhouse brewing is about brewing with the seasons - using seasonally available ingredients and with minimal intervention of the brewer to create expressive beers that a representation of where and when they were brewed.
Gueuze
A specialty type of lambic beer. Made with a specified blend of three separate lambic brews - spontaneously fermented using a Coolship and put to wooden barrels for ageing. The gueuze blend is made using the traditional blending method of 38% 1-year, 29% 2-year, and 33% 3-year barrel-aged spontaneous wild ale. Our Truth & Wisdom wild ale is brewed and blended in line with the gueuze traditions and is the original Australian example of the style.
Hogshead
A wooden cask, holding around 300L in volume.
House Culture
Our legacy yeast culture - used as the main fermenting microbes in brewing our original Saison, and countless other La Sirène beers. A key contributor to the distinct character of our house style!
House Style
Our house style is the result of our approach to brewing - the site-driven character that makes our wild ales so recognisably "La Sirène". Our signature house style stems from the idea that as with a region's wine, beer should be recognisable. Over our years of brewing, we've developed our own house style. It is the culmination of years of capturing and curating wild cultures, maintaining and honing our barrel program and developing our art of barrel blending.
We endeavour to create beautiful ales that are thought-provoking and engaging, yet highly drinkable. Our house character conveys this - bold yet delicate, unrestrained yet refined, fresh yet complex. The drinkability of our beers comes with the fine balance of these things, expressed through their palate, texture, mouthfeel, line and length.
Lactobacillus
A strain of lactic-acid-producing bacteria found in many places out in nature. We maintain a culture of lactobacillus that we caught wild in our brewery many years ago. Wild lactobacilli also find their way into our wild-fermented beers, along with many other wild and amazing microbes. Lactobacillus brings a bright acidity to many of our beers that we absolutely love!
Lagering
Traditional and premium lagers undergo a process called lagering, whereby fully fermented beer is matured at near freezing temperatures over the course of several weeks (normally 6-8). This long and slow period of maturation allows for the breakdown of less-desirable flavour compounds and produces a clean, crisp and well-rounded character.
Lambic
A historical wild ale style, traditionally brewed in the Senne valley in southern Belgium. Lambic is brewed using a Coolship - traditional open-topped vessel in which the unfermented beer is subject to fully spontaneous fermentation by wild yeast and bacteria from the air. The beer is then allowed to ferment very slowly in oak barrels, with the number of years in barrel impacting noticeably on its character. Beers made following these traditional methods in other parts of the world are commonly known as Coolship ales.
Lees
A collection of the solid particles that drop out of suspension during the fermentation of wine. These particles include grape matter, proteins, and most significantly for us, dormant yeast cells. We use wine lees in many of our wine-hybrid wild ales, waking these yeast cells up to ferment our beer.
Microflora
A catch-all term referring to living microbes. Our most significant microflora are the wild yeast and bacteria that live within our brewery on and inside our many French oak barrels, as well as the native microflora that live on the natural vegetation surrounding our brewery site.
Mixed Fermentation
Fermentation using more than one microbial influence. This may be using a cultivated culture along with another, or with exposure to wild microbes.
Natural Fermentation
For us, natural fermentation is about allowing wild yeast and bacteria to ferment with minimal intervention from us as the brewers - no temperature control or additives. This takes patience and time, yielding results that cannot be rushed. Although we see ourselves as advocates for this process of natural fermentation, the results really speak for themselves. Whether it takes months or years, our wild ales are given the time they need.
Open Fermentation
For the majority of our beers, we invite the influence of wild yeast and bacteria, rather than closing fermenting beer off from the environment around it. We do this by simply allowing the primary fermentation period to take place in an open-topped vessel - normally a French oak puncheon (500L wine barrel). The wild yeast and bacteria that find their way into the beer bring added complexity and a character that is recognisably "La Sirène".
Pull
In our solera program, a "pull" refers to each individual batch of beer taken from the solera (see "Solera-method").
Puncheon
A large wooden wine cask, holding around 500L in volume.
Saison
The original Farmhouse Ale - historically brewed by the farmers of the Wallonia region of southern Belgium around the 19th century as a source of nourishment for their fellow farmers. Brewed in the colder months with ingredients available on hand for consumption in the summer. Our saison is a modern-day take on the original saisons, brewed in our Australian context. Like the originals, ours is a highly rustic and expressive saison that serves as a expression of place and time.
Solera-method
A process of beverage ageing, where a main source is maintained in a vessel such as a wine barrel. Every time a portion of liquid is removed from the solera, it is replenished with fresh liquid - in our case, beer. Our Bière de Cerise is an example of this method, whereby the same series of barrels has contained beer rested on whole pitted cherries since 2016. Each "pull" from the barrel constitutes a new batch of Bière de Cerise, with a complexity that has been building since the solera's estrablishment.
Spontaneous Fermentation
Fermentation that occurs without the controlled and deliberate addition of a culture of yeast or bacteria. With spontaneous fermentation, wort (unfermented beer) is left exposed to the environment, allowing yeast and bacteria from nearby vegetation to land on the wort and commence fermentation. Spontaneous fermentation may also occur with the addition of plant matter to wort, like with the addition of unsterilised wine grapes.
Table Beer
Table beer as a style has been brewed and consumed since medieval times in Europe. These naturally lower-alcohol beers were made as a source of hydration, often safer to drink than the local water supply. They were made locally and enjoyed over a meal by everyone at the table. Today's table beers have retained this reduced alcohol content, and are typically rustic, dry and refreshing. We produce a number of different takes on the style, which is itself a broad and diverse category.
Wild Ale
A beer made with the partial influence of or full fermentation by wildly occurring yeast and bacteria rather than the deliberate addition of lab-cultivated and commercially available cultures. Wild ales require a more specialised approach to brewing, and characteriscally result in more complex flavour profiles.
Wine-Hybrid Wild Ale
A wild-fermented beer that has been fermented together with wine ingredients or by-products. Normally, this involves co-fermentation of beer with wine grapes, or fermentation using wine lees (see lees).
Wort
The precursor to beer, prior to the addition of yeast. A brew containing water, grain and hops.