Edinburgh brewery unveils double-deep-fried caterpillar cake stout to celebrate sixth birthday

To celebrate their sixth birthday, Vault City –  who describe themselves as “the mad scientists of sour beer” – have introduced the Double Deep Fried (DDF) Caterpillar Cake, a deep-fried cake stout inspired by the buggy birthday delicacy.

Known for their boundary-pushing and accessible drinks like Strawberry Banana Milkshake, Raspberry Blueberry Bubblegum, Jaffa Cakes, and Iron Brew, DDF Caterpillar Cake is the latest addition to the Vault City roster.

Vault City have introduced the DDF Caterpillar Cake, a decadent deep-fried cake stout boasting a staggering 14.5 per cent ABV, inspired by the buggy birthday delicacy. Photo:Story Shop

And beer fans will have to move fast. This new creation follows the successful Double Deep Fried Mars Bar, which sold out its 5,000-litre batch in under 12 hours.

Retailing at £9.50 for a 330ml can, the DDF Caterpillar Cake stout is a vegan-friendly brew that promises “a rich, velvety mouthfeel and indulgent layers of chocolate and vanilla”, and will be available to buy from July 16.

The drink was inspired by a Portobello chip shop that deep fried a Colin the Caterpillar cake – and the ensuing outrage, including this viral tweet. 

Vault City co-founder Steven Smith-Hay, who began brewing beers from his kitchen, said: “Caterpillar cakes are synonymous with birthdays in Britain. We’re known for taking things a step too far, and we’ve done just that.

“We love experimenting with flavours, and we couldn’t imagine anything better for our sixth birthday than creating a quintessential birthday beer to share with the world.

“After a Portobello chippie deep fried a caterpillar cake we saw a post on X asking if anything was safe from Scottish chippies and we thought, why not make people ask if anything is safe from Scottish breweries?

“Our DDF Stout has proved popular in the past, selling out in less than a day, and I think a big part of that is how rich chocolate flavours carry in a stout – and the stonking ABV.

“So, grab a can of DDF Caterpillar Cake and celebrate Vault City’s sixth birthday with us. If you’ve got a deep fryer to hand, I can guarantee it pairs well with the real thing.”

Part of their Double-Deep-Fried Series, this new creation follows the successful Double Deep Fried Mars Bar, which sold out its 5,000-litre batch in under 12 hours. Photo: Story Shop

Earlier this year, Vault City announced plans to move into a new home seven times the size of its previous Portobello brewery – with the purchase funded by diehard fans of its weird and wonderful creations.

A recent crowdfunding campaign through the company’s webstore, as well as through bars, bottle-shops, and export sales, raised the £330,000 needed to purchase the new site at BioCampus, Scotland's first dedicated national bio-manufacturing campus located within the Midlothian Science Zone in Edinburgh.

The new brewery means the mad scientists of sour beer will now be able to produce more than 10 million litres of beer per year, an increase of more than eight million.

Research conducted by Vault City last year revealed around a third (31 per cent) of UK drinkers are more likely to be experimental when it comes to choosing drinks than they were before lockdown began in March 2020. Now, more than a third of sour beers consumed in the UK are produced by Vault City.