Discovering what’s Brewing at BioCampus
Vault City Brewing, producers of modern sour beer, was established in 2018 and started initially from a flat in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh. The company then progressed to production facilities in Portobello and opened Taprooms for craft beer drinkers in Portobello and Haymarket (The Wee Vault).
Following increasing demand and the growth in popularity of modern sour beer, in 2024 the company acquired space in Midlothian Science Zone, on BioCampus, to allow for expansion.
Vault City Brewing commenced a major fit-out of the BioCampus building in 2025, which at 34,000 sq ft is three times larger than their former site in Portobello, and enables Vault City to produce over 10 million litres of beer a year, increasing capacity by more than eight million litres.
Business Forum Tour at Vault City Brewing led by Johnah.
The Midlothian Science Zone team were excited to visit Vault City Brewing in July 2025, when the building was an empty shell, with remodelling just beginning and shiny new kit still in its packaging.
It was amazing to see the transformation, from visualisation to completed installation, in just under 12 months, as the host venue of our summer MSZ Business Forum.
Marketing Manager Katie Campbell and Brewer Jonah provided Forum attendees with an informative tour of the facilities and an introduction to the fermentation and production process.
A successful Crowdfunding campaign, together with other funding, ensured the brewery is furnished with state-of-the-art equipment and is largely fully automated, which can efficiently produce at least three new flavours of sour beer every three weeks on short runs. Look out for the current Iron Brew flavour to complement Football World Cup fever!
This new equipment runs at lower energy costs and helps to reduce Vault City’s carbon footprint targets, which are tied to funding guidelines.
The soft water from the Pentland Hills, which supplies Midlothian Science Zone and the surrounding area, is perfect for beer making and without the need for treating. The water contains fewer minerals like calcium, and the softness helps brings out the bold, hoppy flavours of modern craft beers, and locally sourced fruit is used where possible to craft the different flavours.
Each of the towering tanks in the impressive ‘tank farm’, including the uniquely named “Beer Grylls”, “Lemon of Troy” and “Tanky McTankface, has an individual capacity of 7,500 litres each.
As well as the kegging machine, the production line has a can filling and labelling machine operating at a rate of 3,000 per hour to ensure that supply demands are met within the four-day working week which the company operates.
Jonah explained that the brewery continues to develop, despite being up and running and constantly improving operations as new equipment is introduced. In the offices and labs, there is a newly appointed R & D Specialist cooking up new flavours and an in-house graphic designer to produce the quirky labels and social media images which the company is renowned for.
On the factory floor, Forum attendees were invited to sample a few summer sour beers fresh out of production, including the World Cup Edition Iron Bru flavour, a refreshing Imperial Peach & Apricot Pastel De Nata taking inspiration from the iconic Portuguese custard tart, and delicious alcohol-free Peach Cobbler, Pink Cloudy Krush and Lemon & Raspberry flavour.
This wrapped up a memorable and informative Business Forum ‘with a difference’, led by a passionate team. It was wonderful to see this empty space back in business ‘in the zone’!
And if this has made you thirsty or tempted to try a sour then orders can be placed online at Vault City Brewing’s website. Many independent bottle shops and craft beer bars also carry VCB sours (view stockists in your area) and some supermarkets also stock a limited selection.
Midlothian Science Zone would like to thank all contributors of our Business Forums and to those who participated. These networking events encourage collaboration, overlap and discussion which is our aim to encourage engagement across the zone.
Our next Midlothian Science Zone Business Forum will be in August/September with details to be announced soon. Please check our Events page for updates or sign up to our Mailing List.
If you would like to be notified of future MSZ Business Forum Events or to present at one of our events, please contact Emma McCallum, Project Co-ordinator.