Vault City Brewing has put a boozy twist on four desserts, creating a series of sour beers inspired by Japanese mochi, New York cheesecake, Thai sago pudding, and Scottish cranachan.
The Edinburgh brewery has pushed the boundaries of beer making, using unusual ingredients including 500kg of rice, sago pearls, spirulina, and Speyside whisky barrels. Each beer — inspired by the imminent return of the Breat British Bake-Off — has its own hand-illustrated can design by Edinburgh artist Heather Fletcher.
Vault City has teamed up with four brewing partners from around the world — UCHU Brewing in Japan, Evil Twin Brewing in New York, Samata Brewing in Thailand, and the UK’s Azvex Brewing — to turn the sweet treats into sour beers.
The first beer, created with UCHU Brewing, takes inspiration from Japanese mochi, with around 500kg of rice used to recreate the soft, pillowy texture of the popular dessert. A New York Cheesecake beer follows, created with Evil Twin Brewing and packed with juicy berries, with tangy rhubarb adding a sharp edge to the creamy flavours.
The collaboration with Thailand’s Samata Brewing sees sago pearls used by Vault City for the first time in a beer inspired by a classic Thai dessert, alongside tropical flavours and spirulina. Rounding off the series is Cranachan, created with Scottish brewery Azvex Brewing and made with fruit and heather honey from Scottish Bee Co, with a portion aged in Speyside whisky barrels. The collaboration is also Vault City’s first-ever barrel-aged smoothie sour, adding notes of vanilla, oak, and whisky.
“We love a good dessert and we love experimenting with beer, so this felt like the perfect opportunity to bring the two together,” said Steven Smith-Hay, founder of Vault City.
“Each collaboration gave us the chance to try something we’ve never done before, from using half a tonne of rice and experimenting with sago pearls to ageing a beer in whisky barrels for the first time.
“We’ve definitely taken a few liberties with the idea of a bake, but that’s part of the fun. We’re taking the flavours and textures we love and giving them a Vault City twist.”
Hannah Fletcher added: “I took inspiration from vintage travel postcards and kept the illustrations light and playful, while making the flavour and key ingredients stand out as an important part of the artwork. It was a really enjoyable project to be a part of and bring the flavours together through the designs.”
