The story of Siren Craft Brew’s best-selling beer Lumina is one of calculated risk.
It was created during the lockdown phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, designed for cans. But it’s been so successful that it can now be found in pubs and bars London and the South, including a quarter of Fuller’s 400 premium pubs and hotels.
Now, Finchampstead-based Siren Craft is celebrating five years of Lumina, a beer that has quite the story to tell.
Its launch event included a stargazing Zoom night with astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst, a third birthday that saw £10,000 donated to charity and enough cans sold since 2020 to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Siren Craft Brew founder Darron Anley explains: “The success of Lumina is that it hits the spot. It takes all the work we’ve done on our brand, all the experimentation to produce a product that people choose over all others.”
The brewery, which runs The George & Dragon in Swallowfield and a flagship bar in Friar Street, Reading, has always aimed to be at the forefront of experimentation, producing high-percentage barrel-aged imperial stouts through to the hugely recognisable Soundwave, an IPA that satisfies most markets.
Its approach has seen it win awards, win distribution deals, and start popping up all over the place as its brews and collaborations have won it fans the world over.
With Lumina, Siren aimed to create a sessionable, tropical, and crucially – gluten–free product. As awareness around Coeliac disease has rocketed over the last decade, Siren has been leading the way in producing an incredibly inclusive product.
In 2023, the business backed its brand, its product, team, and customer base. £10,000 would be donated to charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, if the hashtag #LuminaHour trended on social media – and the beer became available in 1,000 venues around the UK.
MORE CHEESELOGS: A look round The George & Dragon in Swallowfield
The targets were hit and a donation made. It goes some way to explain the calculated risks Siren Craft Brew took, and why it is challenging leading brands on supermarket shelves and a favourite of pub estates like Fuller’s.
“This is a great addition to our beer range and is already proving popular,” says Ed Fryer, marketing manager at Fuller’s.
“A gluten-free beer that combines great branding and history with a fantastic beer is right in our customers’ sweet spot from a taste perspective.”
More on the Lumina success story
Now exported to 20 countries including France, Hong Kong and Australia, in 2025, Lumina continues to look upward and will celebrate its fifth birthday in style with big online giveaways and a new merchandise range.
All of that, from one 330ml can of gorgeous Lumina.
Darron Anley, Siren Craft Brew’s owner, says: “I love how we launched Lumina. I love how it’s been taken on by customers and the pub trade alike.
“When I go to festivals and trade shows, people tell me: ‘When we put Lumina on, if it’s not on permanently, it outsells everything else we’ve got,’ I think that tells you everything about the job we did.
“In just five years, it’s built up such a great following, such a loyal following, and it’s that beer that we always wanted it to be. The nature of the beer industry is that people get into it because they like to try all the new things. “
For more information, visit the Siren Craft Brew website or connect via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
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