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Freaky
Our Rating: 4.44 / 5
Freaky by Vault City is an 8% milkshake sour that leans fully into dessert territory without losing technical control. Dense, opaque, and fruit-saturated, it balances heavy berry sweetness, pastry-like depth, and restrained acidity in a way that stays deliberate rather than chaotic.
Beer Name: Freaky
Brewery: Vault City Brewing
Beer Style: Milkshake Sour / Smoothie Sour
Alcohol: 8%
Taste Notes: Blueberry, blackberry, cherry, chocolate cake, cookie crumb, vanilla,
Serving: Can
Serving Size: 440 ml (14.88 fl. oz.)
It’s a Freaky Milkshake
Milkshake sours already ask for trust. Vault City pushes that trust hard, and Freaky spells it out without euphemism: blueberries, blackberries, sweet cherry, cookie crumbs, vanilla ice cream, sprinkles, whipped cream, caramel, pretzel, fudge. The adjunct-heavy Freaky reads like a shopping list assembled five minutes before a child’s birthday party, yet for us who know Vault City, they have form with high-load pastry sours. Vault City are based in Edinburgh and has made its name on thick, fruit-forward sours built on lactose, heavy fruiting rates, and wild recipe design. This one lands at 8%, packaged in a 44 cl can, and pitched unapologetically as a dessert, or milkshake, rather than a refreshment
In our glasses, the colour settles firmly into dark purple, edging towards blackcurrant cordial territory. Freakishly opaque, murky, and entirely uninterested in clarity. Foam barely registers at all, and carbonation shows itself instead through fine, persistent bubbles clinging to the surface rather than forming a head. The aroma pushes hard and close-range: dark berries first, then chocolate cake, crushed cookies, and a general pastry-shop sweetness that we find stays just on the right side of novelty.
The first sips confirm the intent immediately. Dense without tipping totally into syrup, with a thick body that coats and is creamy, without feeling tacky and syrupy. The blueberry and blackberry lead, cherry sits slightly underneath, and the cookie-and-cake elements present themselves as cocoa powder and biscuit crumb rather than raw sugar. The acidity arrives early but keeps a tight leash, cutting through the sweetness enough to stop the whole thing from sagging under its own weight. Carbonation feels present but restrained, more textural than lively, keeping the focus on flavour. It’s definitely intended to feel like a milkshake.
Milkshake in a Can
As our glasses warm up slightly, the balance shifts in predictable but welcome ways. Acidity eases back, allowing more chocolate and darker berry notes to surface. The pastry elements become clearer here: cake crumb rather than icing, cocoa rather than chocolate syrup. The lactose sweetness stays steady, but never spikes into cloying territory, helped by very low bitterness that quietly props up the structure.
The mouthfeel remains thick throughout, though not static; carbonation thins the edges just enough to keep the palate engaged and not get fatigued.
This is definitely a high-adjunct sour executed with discipline. The fruit load is heavy, but individual fruits remain legible rather than collapsing into a generic “berry” slurry. Fermentation character stays clean and largely invisible, which is exactly what the style demands. Carbonation sits at a medium level, delivered through very fine bubbles that avoid foam but still provide lift. That lack of foam is very likely due to the viscosity of Freak. No off-notes show up that we can pinpoint, and nothing drifts into yoghurt, solvent, or artificial sweetness territory as temperature rises.
Untappd lists the beer as a Smoothie Sour / Milkshake Sour, with an average rating of 3.99. That feels about right given the technical control on display, though pastry sours remain divisive by nature.
Our own group scored higher overall, but we are slightly predisposed to liking pastry-like sours, with an average rating of 4.44. This won’t convert anyone sceptical of the style, but for those already on board, it delivers exactly what it promises, without losing composure along the way.
- Jesper: 5.00 / 5
- Viktor: 4.25 / 5
- Laurits: 3.75 / 5
- Casper: 4.75 / 5
Our Average Score: 4.44 / 5
