Malt

Malt gives beer its colour, structure, and flavour foundation. At Đông Ba Brewery, our malt is selected from trusted partners such as Joe White and Weyermann, leading suppliers of high-quality barley malt worldwide.

• Creates the malt character, body, and colour.
• Each beer style uses its own malt ratio.
• Ingredients are selected to maintain consistent flavour from batch to batch.

Milling the malt

The malt is milled to break open the kernels, allowing the water to reach the starch inside more easily. The aim is a balanced crush: the husks remain relatively intact, the kernels are broken open, and the grain is not ground too finely into flour.

• The husks remain relatively intact to support lautering.
• The kernels are crushed to improve extraction efficiency.
• The malt is not milled too finely, helping to prevent a stuck mash and astringency.

Mashing

The milled malt is mixed with hot water so that natural enzymes in the malt can convert the starch into fermentable sugars. The temperature and time are adjusted for each beer style.

Boiling with hops

After lautering, the wort is boiled at a high temperature, usually around 100°C for 60–90 minutes. Hops are added at different times to create bitterness, aroma, and a distinctive character for each beer.

• Most of our hops come from Yakima, a renowned hop-growing region in the United States.
• IPAs use more hops to bring their aroma to the forefront.
• Pale Ale balances malt and hops, making it easier to drink.

Fermentation

After boiling, the wort is rapidly cooled and transferred to fermentation tanks. The yeast converts the sugars into alcohol, natural CO₂, and the distinctive flavours of each beer.

Cold conditioning

Once primary fermentation is complete, the beer is cold-conditioned so that the yeast can settle, the beer can clarify, and its flavour can become more stable. This is an important stage that makes the beer smoother, cleaner, and easier to drink.

• Duration: from a few days to several weeks, depending on the beer.
• Helps the beer become clearer, more stable, and more balanced.

Poured at the brewery

Once complete, the beer is served directly at the brewery at its freshest. This is a defining Đông Ba Brewery experience: beer brewed on site and poured where it is made.

• Brewed at our brewery in Huế.
• Served fresh directly at the taproom.
• Guests can experience the true spirit of local craft beer.