Pure inebriation: Vault City launches Wonka-inspired sour beer collection

Looking for some beers that are less snozzwanger and more scrumdiddlyumptious? You’ll want to check out Vault City’s new sour beer collection, inspired by the mad creations of Roald Dahl’s magical chocolatier, Willy Wonka.

Vault City’s new ‘Marvellous Liquids’ range includes five new brews, each with a drop of Dahl-like playfulness in the mix. Golden Goose Eggs, Ultimate Gobstopper, Fizzy Lifting Juice, Dissolving Elixir and Chocolate River Imperial Stout — you get the picture yet?

Sours can be a tricky drink for newcomers — as the name suggests, the sour acidity can put some people off. But the Vault City collection is newcomer-friendly, keeping the tartness on the approachable side and ramping up sweetness and fruitiness.

The collection of five beers can be picked up from the Vault City website for £38.28, and comes in a fun sweet-shop window style gift box.

Here’s Vault City’s own tasting notes for the Marvellous Liquids bundle — along with individual can prices if you want to pick up a few specific brews:

Ultimate Gobstopper, 4.5% ABV, £5.20

• Blueberry bubble gum sour with flavours that feel everlasting.
• Appearance: Deep violet in colour with a frothy, white-lavender tinged head.
• Aroma: Nostalgic aromas of juicy blueberries and bubble gum sweetness that refuse to fade away.
• Taste: Layers of bold blueberries with juicy bubble gum sweetness, and a refreshingly sour bite to balance each sip.
• Finish: Tangy, juicy and ultra-refreshing with a lingering fresh fruit finish.

Fizzy Lifting Juice, 6% ABV, £7.10

• Nitro sour with raspberries, peaches and fizzy lifting cascading bubbles.
• Appearance: A dazzling pink-rose hue with cascading bubbles and a pillowy, cloud-like head thanks to the nitro infusion.
• Aroma: Fresh raspberries and sun-ripened peaches bursting with marshmallow sweetness and juicy intensity.
• Taste: Tangy raspberries take centre stage followed by velvety peaches with juicy, mellow sweetness. The nitro-enhanced smoothness and lactose additions create a soft, creamy sensation.
• Finish: Sweet, fruity finish with a creamy mouthfeel soft as clouds.

Golden Goose Eggs, 5% ABV, £5.20

• Strawberry, raspberry, white chocolate and caramel pastry sour.
• Appearance: Pink and hazy with a thin white head.
• Aroma: Fresh juicy aromas of Scottish strawberries and raspberries with melted white chocolate and lashings of rich caramel.
• Taste: Juicy, ripe strawberries and raspberries create a vibrant burst of fresh fruit flavour that’s perfectly balanced by waves of creamy white chocolate and smooth caramel sweetness.
• Finish: Luxuriously smooth, velvety and worth its weight in gold.

Dissolving Elixir, 6.3% ABV, £7.90

• Thick, viscous smoothie sour with blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and a swirl of smooth, creamy vanilla.
• Appearance: A deep, rich purple colour, thick and opaque with a frothy head.
• Aroma: A fruit-forward fusion of ripe blackberries, tart raspberries, and sweet blueberries among aromas of sweet vanilla.
• Taste: Rich, dark berries with juicy sweetness, intense fruit flavour and soft creamy vanilla creating a luxuriously thick, smoothie-like mouthfeel.
• Finish: A lingering finish where creamy vanilla and jammy berries slowly dissolve into mallow-soft sweetness.

Chocolate River, 12% ABV, £10.30

• Imperial stout with waves of deep chocolate malt, velvety cocoa, and a luxurious, sticky body.
• Appearance: A deep cocoa pour with a mocha-brown head, like a flowing river of dark chocolate swirling in your glass.
• Aroma: Sweet aromas of velvety cocoa from a blend of liquid chocolate, wheat and malt in a world of pure imagination.
• Taste: Waves of rich dark chocolate, velvety cocoa, and fudge-like sweetness coat the palate with a subtle warmth and delicate bitterness from East Kent Goldings hops.
• Finish: Long, lingering, and decadent with a sticky, full-bodied mouthfeel.

The launch coincides with a crowdfunding campaign from the Edinburgh brewery, which looks to expand its new 34,000 sq ft site at BioCampus in the Midlothian Science Zone with equipment to make it capable of producing 10 million litres per year. Campaign supporters can receive a 33% discount on Vault City purchases, and have the chance to become the brewers first ever ‘Sourmellier’ — a sour beer taste-testing specialist, getting their lips around Vault City’s experimental concoctions first.

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