I'M WITH STOOPID...
Back in January 2023, we released the first beer in what would become the Stoopid series, an evolution of the often ridiculous fruiting levels we’ve used since the early days of Vault City. What started as one Stoopid idea has now got us seven Stoopid sours deep, so we thought we’d take a walk down memory lane and look back at how Stoopid started, and what they are today.
Our smoothie sour series is dedicated to anyone who’s ever asked, “Why can’t beer just taste like beer?”. A sour to horrify most CAMRA members and turn a few heads on the internet. Jam-packed with unfermented fruit, these beers are packed with a fresh fruit medley every time, alongside a generous hit of creamy coconut. They’re thicc, juicy, and outrageously tasty in every stoopid sip.
WHAT MAKES A BEER STOOPID?
Ultimately, we make a lot of silly beers, but what is it that really makes this series Stoopid?
Before we start, a quick caveat; our focus is always on quality and balance, rather than Stoopid for Stoopid’s sake. This allows us to get quite creative (and yes, have a few gimmicks here and there), but it’s backed up by flavours that work together, even if it feels or sounds a bit Stoopid…
Unlike a lot of smoothie sours, which rely on kettle souring, our Stoopid series still showcases our house-mixed fermentation culture, adding an underlying complexity at the heart of it. Primary fermentation is pushed hot (a fair bit hotter than typical breweries might go for), and this kick-starts production of tropical esters and beer-derived fruitiness even before any fruit is added.
The next stage is where things get really fruity. We source the freshest produce from farms and orchards, barrels of which comes from Scottish farms not too far from our brewery, and beyond. We use literally tonnes of it in each batch. Fermenting certain fruits at higher temperatures can strip away delicate aromatics, so we deliberately avoid it. Using unfermented fruit preserves those sweet, farm-fresh aromas and flavours in their purest form. Then we infuse coconut cream, adding a foamy, bubbly head and a uniquely rich texture and mouthfeel.
Refining and balancing something Stoopid is no easy feat, but it’s something we’ve been working on especially hard for our latest releases as the first from our new brewery. This time, we focused less on coconut-forward flavours and put the fruit medley up front to get a better balance overall which still maintaining that Stoopid feel.
SMOOTHIE CRIMINALS (CRIMES AGAINST TRADITIONAL BEER?"- UNTAPPD USER 2025)
Smoothie sours didn’t come out of nowhere. Their roots sit firmly in traditional sour beer styles, where brewers have been working with acidity and fruit for centuries. From Berliner Weisse and Gose through to fruited Lambics, fruit has always played a role in sour beer, originally used to complement sharpness, add fermentable sugars, or showcase local ingredients. Fruit-forward beer has always existed. It just wasn’t always this Stoopid...
As modern craft brewing evolved, kettle souring made tart beers quicker and more accessible, opening the door to bigger fruit additions and bolder flavour profiles. Brewers began shifting focus from beers with fruit to beers built entirely around it. Texture thickened, sweetness became intentional, and mouthfeel mattered just as much as acidity. That shift marked the real emergence of smoothie sours as a style in their own right.
Our own contribution to that evolution came through the 999g/L series, where fruit stopped being an accent and became the main event. For context, 999 grams of fruit per litre of beer is the legal volume of fruit that can be used in a beer. We’ve never met the fruit police (because we’ve always towed this line), but essentially if we went above this threshold it would be categorised closer to a cider, something we’ve got no license or business making (for now at least…).
So, with this legal threshold, and aintaining our signature mixed fermentation style, we began Vault City packing beers with extreme amounts of fruit. This was as much about pushing boundaries as it was creating something fun to drink.
It was about pushing flavour, aroma, and body as far as possible while keeping balance in check. And creating a bit of a spectacle online or at festivals. We brewed several small batches of this series over the years. From there, the leap to Stoopidity felt natural. Same foundations, less restraint.
OUR MOST STOOPID BEERS
Two Stoopids sit right at the top on Untappd. Stoopid: Passion Fruit, Mango & Banana leads the way with huge tropical intensity and a thick, juicy body, while Stoopid: Blackberry Strawberry Woo Woo follows close behind, bursting with deep berry flavour and full-on smoothie chaos. Blue Hawaiian possibly takes the crown for most Stoopid, with an infusion of cocktail-inspired fruits and blue curacao creating an eye-catching electric blue pour.
ARE YOU STOOPID OR JUST A LIL' STOOPID?
Our two latest releases are a first for us, where we’ve doubled down with a duo in the series. Stoopid: Passionfruit, Apricot, Mango & Coconut Smoothie Sour goes all-in on tropical fruit, jam-packed with juicy mango, sharp passionfruit, soft apricot and a smooth hit of creamy coconut. Alongside it, A Lil Stoopid: Strawberry, Blackberry & Coconut Smoothie Session Sour keeps the thicc-ness and fruit intensity you’d expect, but with the Stoopidity dialled down a notch (and a slightly more sessionable ABV). Proof that there’s more than one way to do something Stoopid.
