Vault City

Founded in 2018 by Steven Smith-Hay and John Wood, Vault City began as a nomadic operation brewing in a domestic kitchen in Edinburgh before establishing a professional facility. The brewery's identity is built around a house mixed-culture (a proprietary blend of wild yeast and bacteria strains that produces the characteristic tartness the brand is known for) and an unusually high fruit content: recipes regularly exceed 200g of real fruit per litre. That commitment to bold, fruit-forward sourness carries directly into the AF line, which uses the same house mixed-culture as the core range, with fermentation managed carefully to limit alcohol production whilst preserving the beer's character.

Vault City positions itself as the UK's biggest sour beer producer, and its release schedule reflects that ambition: new beers drop weekly. The AF range is small but distinctive, sitting firmly in dry-hopped sour formats and well outside the mainstream alcohol-free segment. The sour-forward profile has particular appeal for sober-curious drinkers who find standard AF options too timid in flavour.

Distribution spans specialist alcohol-free retailers and the brand's own direct-to-consumer webshop. The AF range sits at the premium end of the market, reflecting both the ingredient intensity and the craft brewery context from which it comes.