An Edinburgh brewery has launched a new collection of dessert-inspired sour beers ahead of The Great British Bake Off returning to television screens next month.
Vault City Brewing’s limited-edition Bake-Off Series features four beers inspired by Japanese mochi, New York cheesecake, a Thai dessert and Scotland’s own cranachan.
The brewery has collaborated with four international brewing partners on the range: UCHU Brewing in Japan, Evil Twin Brewing in New York, Samata Brewing in Thailand and Scottish brewery Azvex Brewing.
Global dessert influences
The series sees Vault City’s team experiment with a number of unusual brewing ingredients, including around half a tonne of rice, sago pearls, spirulina and Speyside whisky barrels.
The first release, brewed alongside UCHU Brewing, takes its cues from Japanese mochi. Around 500kg of rice was used to help recreate the dessert’s soft, pillowy texture.
A New York Cheesecake-inspired sour, developed with Evil Twin Brewing, combines juicy berries and tangy rhubarb with creamy dessert flavours.
Vault City has also used sago pearls in beer for the first time for its collaboration with Thailand’s Samata Brewing. Inspired by a classic Thai dessert, the beer brings together tropical flavours and spirulina.
Scottish finish
Rounding off the collection is Cranachan, created with Azvex Brewing. The beer uses fruit and heather honey from Scottish Bee Co, with a portion of the brew aged in Speyside whisky barrels.
The release is Vault City’s first Barrel-Aged Smoothie Sour, bringing vanilla, oak and whisky notes to the Scottish dessert-inspired beer.
Steven Smith-Hay, founder of Vault City, said: “We love a good dessert and we love experimenting with beer, so this felt like the perfect opportunity to bring the two together.
“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.”
Illustrated can designs
The range also features artwork from Edinburgh illustrator Heather Fletcher, who created four hand-illustrated can designs influenced by vintage travel postcards, retro recipe cards and local landmarks.
Fletcher said: “I was really excited to be involved in the design for Vault City’s Bake Off series. Collaborating with breweries from across the world, I wanted the visual direction to capture that sense of travel and bring a different destination feel to each design.
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“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.”
Vault City’s Bake-Off range is available now from the brewery’s website.
