Edinburgh-based sour beer specialist Vault City is on track for its best-ever year, with turnover expected to reach £10 million in the next two years. This despite a slowdown across the craft brewing sector.
Steven Smith-Hay, co-founder of Vault City
The brewer reported that sales surged 38% year on year between April and December, driven by strong supermarket performance and rising international demand. At its current growth rate, that puts Vault City on track to reach £10m turnover for the first time by the end of 2027.
Vault City now sells its beers to 26 countries worldwide, with export sales increasing 62% year on year, led by the Nordics and France, It supplies more than 5,000 UK supermarkets, through listings at retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, and Waitrose.
The brewer delivered 50% year-on-year distribution growth, underpinning its continued retail momentum. It also ranked as the highest-rated brewery in UK retail, with the top two highest-rated beers nationally, according to beer review platform Untappd.
Recent figures from the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) showed that brewery closure rates increased ‘dramatically’ during 2025, up 37% on 2024, as economic pressures forced many out of business. Market data from the tail end of 2025 also found that craft beer retail sales were down 7% year on year in the 12 weeks to 27th December.
“It is, undoubtedly a challenging time for the craft brewing sector, with closures ramping up last year across the industry,” said Steven Smith-Hay, co-founder of Vault City.
“With the changes to duty and the minimum wage coming in from April, trading is likely going to remain tough — and we’re seeing these trends take place in other markets too, not just the UK.
“But people are still drinking beers — and consuming a wider variety than they were 10 or 15 years ago. Against that backdrop, we’ve aimed to stay true to our roots and focus on the quality of our products.
“Our signature sour style has broadly been overlooked, and that has allowed us to grow to the size we are today, while maintaining our independence.”
» Enjoying Beer Today? Become a Patreon supporter from £1.50 a month
Known for its bold and playful flavours, Vault City has built a loyal following for its experimental sour beers, stouts, and dessert-inspired styles. Last year, its most popular releases were Jungle Juice and Raspberry Cream Soda, with the latter winning two stars at the Great Taste Awards. It is also the only non-US entry to feature in the top five global breweries for most five-star reviews on Untappd.
Following two crowdfunder sales in 2024 and 2025, Vault City recently relocated to a new state-of-the-art production facility at BioCampus, within the Midlothian Science Zone. The crowdfunder sale discounted prices for consumers and trade customers, using reward-tier gifts and experiences to raise more than £330,000 — exceeding its £250,000 target by 32% — and supporting the purchase of a site seven times the size of the brewery’s previous home.
The new 36,000 sq ft site gives Vault City the capacity to produce more than 10m litres of beer a year, with scope to expand further as demand grows. In 2025, Vault City produced 14,384 hectolitres and sold 3.3m cans of beer.
Smith-Hay added: “We’ve created a niche set of products and built a dedicated community around them in a very considered way. We’ve been fortunate that the two have grown together organically, and we hope that will remain the case with the wide variety of new beers we have recently launched and have in our plans for 2026.
“Wherever we can, we have reinvested straight back into the brewery to strengthen how we operate and set ourselves up for the long term. But there’s a lot to be said for reflecting on where you are in uncertain times and, after a period of sustained growth, it feels like a good time to consider our next steps.
“We want to be known not just for sour beers, but for flavour more broadly. We’re experimenting in-house and are excited about the potential across barrel-aged projects, alcohol-free beers, and potentially lagers, IPAs and more.”
