Edinburgh-brewed gingerbread latte stout branded ‘really festive’ hits Tesco shelves

An Edinburgh craft beer maker is cheering its first-ever supermarket listing for one of its stout products after sealing a deal with retail giant Tesco.

Vault City, which specialises in heavily fruited, modern sour beers, now has its gingerbread latte imperial stout stocked nationwide by the chain just in time for the festive season rush. The firm, whose beers come in flavours such as passion fruit lemon sorbet and “iron brew”, said its products have already proved popular with customers of Tesco, becoming its biggest sour beer seller.

The supermarket heavyweight already stocks Vault City flavours such as triple fruited mango and blackcurrant royale. They complement listings in rival chains Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s. The capital brewer is now looking to gain market share with the gingerbread latte imperial stout, which features chocolate malt, oats and creamy vanilla and has a strong ABV of 11 per cent.

Brewer Vault City's gingerbread latte imperial stout features chocolate malt, oats and creamy vanilla and has a strong ABV of 11 per cent. Picture: Gavin Hill

The firm also recently debuted a “last Christmas” sour beer, taking its name from iconic 80s pop band Wham!, and its flavour from boiling and infusing 500 Wham chew bars into the brew.

Expanding production to meet the requirements of the new listings is being enabled by the company - which in 2022 became the first commercial brewery in the UK to adopt a four-day week - having started plans for relocation to a new brewery. The “state-of-the-art” facility is seven times the size of its previous premises and has been supported by a £330,000 crowdfunder.

Co-founder Steven Smith-Hay said: “These new supermarket listings are yet another major milestone for us as we seek to reach as many people as possible with our beers in a wide range of mind-blowing seasonal flavour combinations.

“Our gingerbread latte imperial stout has proved highly popular since it was launched. It tastes really festive, with the lightness of the vanilla, spiciness of the ginger, and the sweetness of the brown sugar balancing well with the rich and deep flavour of the stout. We firmly believe it stands out among more established rivals.”

The entrepreneur, who began his craft beer journey brewing beers in his kitchen, added: “We have always wanted to be the biggest dedicated sour beer producer in the world - and now securing our first supermarket listing for stout means we can make major in-roads into this growing market too. Our plans are being accelerated by our upcoming move to a much larger manufacturing site.”

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