Collection: Vault City Brewery Edinburgh

Vault City Brewing has become one of the defining names in modern British craft beer, helping push sour beer from a niche style into the mainstream through intensely fruit-forward brewing, playful flavour combinations and a strong focus on accessibility. Founded in Edinburgh in 2018 by Steven Smith-Hay and Jonathan Horn, the brewery began with tiny hand-bottled batches brewed in a flat before rapidly growing into Scotland’s largest dedicated sour beer producer.

From the beginning, Vault City focused on what it describes as “modern sour beer” — heavily fruited, balanced sours designed to feel approachable, expressive and distinct from more traditional sharply acidic wild ales. The brewery became especially known for combining souring techniques with huge quantities of real fruit, dessert-inspired flavours and highly creative small-batch experimentation.

Based in Portobello and closely tied to Edinburgh’s modern beer culture, Vault City quickly built a cult following through releases such as Strawberry Sundae, Triple Fruited Mango and Cloudy Lemonade alongside a constant stream of collaborations and seasonal specials. The beers often blur the line between sour beer, smoothie-style fruit beer and dessert-inspired brewing while still maintaining freshness and drinkability.

Despite rapid growth and international attention, the brewery has retained a highly creative and independent identity rooted in flavour-first brewing and constant experimentation. Vault City’s influence can now be seen across the wider UK craft beer scene, particularly in the rise of accessible pastry sour and heavily fruited sour beer styles.

Today the brewery remains one of Scotland’s most recognisable modern craft beer producers, known for bold fruit character, vibrant releases and helping introduce a new generation of drinkers to contemporary sour beer.