iBiero Craft Beer

iBiero was founded in late 2016 by Do Giang Vinh. The name joins an "i" for innovative with biero, a word for beer. The beer is brewed at the company's own factory, iBiero Brewing Co, in Phu Dien Industrial Park, Co Nhue 2, Bac Tu Liem, Hanoi, a site of around 1,000 square metres. The brewery works with imported malt and hops from Belgium, Germany and Australia and adds Vietnamese flavours, most famously in Bia Com, a beer made with com, the young green rice that is a Hanoi autumn speciality. The brewery says Bia Com won gold at Brew Asia 2023 and has been exported to Hong Kong, and it runs a programme to recruit distributors and agents around Vietnam.

The beers

• Hanoi Autumn, rice lager, 4.5%
• Hanoi Craft Lager, pale lager, 4.8%
• Vanilla Cream Ale, cream ale, 5.2%
• King IPA, double IPA, 8.2%
• Brown Chocolate, stout, 5.5%
• Pilsner, pilsner, 5.2%

The wider range runs to around 50 beers, including a Passion Fruit Ale, Red Ale, Triple IPA and fruit beers such as Pomelo Ale. Most are sold in bottles and cans as well as on draught.

Where to drink it

The flagship iBiero Craft Beer Station is at 99 Le Duan, opposite Hanoi Railway Station, with a steakhouse menu. In the Old Quarter, Craft Beer Pub on Hang Buom keeps iBiero on its list, and drinkers regularly check its bottles in at restaurants across the country. Both Hanoi bars are listed below.