Edinburgh’s Vault City Brewing is looking for one passionate beer fan to become its first-ever ‘Sourmellier’ – a dream role involving taste-testing the brewery’s sour beer creations ahead of release.
The recruitment drive is part of a crowdfunding campaign to support the fit-out of Vault City’s new 34,000-square-foot facility at BioCampus in the Midlothian Science Zone. The new site will allow the brewery to produce over 10 million litres of beer a year – an increase of more than eight million litres – with scope to scale production up to 20 times its current size.
The ‘Sourmellier’ role is being offered as a reward to one of the crowdfunder’s backers who will receive new sour beers to sample every month throughout 2025 and provide feedback directly to the brewing team.
“This role isn’t for the fainthearted – we’re looking for a sour beer fan like no other,” said co-founder Steven Smith-Hay. “It will involve a lot of sour beer drinking so we’re looking for a very refined palette. Someone with a real understanding of the sour scale, who can present facts with no fluff and isn’t afraid to deliver raw honesty for the sake of the sour beer community.”
Smith-Hay added, “I think this would be my dream job – the chance to just taste and feedback on beers, really putting my palate to the test. We always welcome feedback, from the ‘not sour enoughs’ to the ‘who on earth would drink this?’. Every opinion helps us improve.”
Vault City was founded in 2018 from a Dundee kitchen and now turns over more than £6.8 million. The brewery produces over a third of the UK’s sour beers, is stocked in over 250 bars, and exports to more than 20 countries. Stockists include Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
Vault City expects to open the doors to its new facility in October 2025.