MARY BEER-Y: EDINBURGH BREWERY PUTS A BOOZY TWIST ON FOUR BAKE OFF DESSERTS

An Edinburgh brewery has launched a new series of sour beers inspired by four iconic desserts ahead of The Great British Bake Off returning to screens next month.

Vault City Brewing’s new Bake-Off Series features four limited-edition beers inspired by Japanese mochi, New York cheesecake, a Thai dessert and Scotland’s own cranachan.

The Edinburgh brewery 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 Scottish brewery Azvex Brewing, to turn the sweet treats into sour beers.

The collaborations have seen Vault City’s brewers experiment with some unusual ingredients, including half a tonne of rice, sago pearls, spirulina and Speyside whisky barrels.

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 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.”

The series also features artwork by Edinburgh-based illustrator Heather Fletcher, who created four hand-illustrated can designs inspired 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.

“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 to buy now from vaultcity.co.uk, with prices ranging from £7.90-£8.10 a can.