Something's Brewing: The Beer Guy!

Chengdu native Maverick Wang is committed to a life in Discovery Bay, and that includes providing us with a signature homegrown brew. Elizabeth Kerr reports

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Andrew Spires

"Beer is very local, and every town, or village or community should have its own beer,” opens Maverick Wang Hengyi, owner, head brewer, marketing chief, finance officer, sanitation crew and master of any other job that needs doing at two-year-old DB Brew. Maverick is parked at a long table at Coffee Academics: he’s wearing shorts, sunglasses on his head, tee-shirt and backwards baseball cap, looking a fraction of his 43 years. It’s hard to know what it is that keeps him looking so spry. Maybe it’s the running. Or the skiing. Or the mountaineering. Or maybe it’s the beer.

Sitting on the table are four cans of DB Brew and a glass, some of the gear the three-year Discovery Bay resident has carted along from the brewery floor – aka his kitchen. “Yes, right now I’m doing everything myself. I have a partner in Shenzhen but he’s not really doing the beer part. When we moved here, I decided to try something I really wanted to do. I enjoy a beer and I thought, ‘Where’s the local brew?’ So I decided to star t a brewer y from my home.”

Maverick landed in Hong Kong in 2022 via Beijing, Shanghai (where he met his wife), Shenzhen and Chengdu. The couple lived on Hong Kong Island for a stretch upon arrival, but moved to DB almost right away. “I like the diversity; it feels like a real neighbourhood, and now it ’s easy with a two-year-old.”

It ’s almost as if Maverick were destined to colour outside the lines, finding it easy to live up to the ‘unorthodox’ name he picked up in university. “One of my professors explained what it meant and for whatever reason he thought it suited me. I do like it now,” he says.

Maverick started his work life on a more traditional finance track, before detouring into app development. He created the app Hua Bei (still available) as a way to combine two of his personal interests, skiing and photography – kind of like Vivino for wine drinkers or Letterboxd for film buffs. As a matter of fact, Maverick’s not long back from his latest ski adventure in Aspen. On the alpine climbing front, he’s completed the north face of both Eiger and Matterhorn – and yes Grandes Jorasses is on his bucket list. “Climbing is going to have to take a break for a while though,” Maverick admits. “I have a young son now, so I’m less tempted to do dangerous things.”

Maverick still runs, however – he’s a UTMB and UTMR finisher – and while he hasn’t made an app for it, he’s tapping the local running community with beer runs (held on the last Thursday of every month), each of which ends with a cold, convivial DB Brew. “We meet at around 6.30pm and do a 500m lap of Tai Pak Beach,” Maverick explains. “Our community is full of people who love life, enjoy running and embrace every moment. The DB Brew Beer Run combines the thrill of running with the joy of craft beer.”

At last count, Hong Kong had upwards of 30 microbreweries in operation, among them the high-profile Young Master, Moonzen, Black Kite and Gweilo, and Maverick’s adding DB Brew (www.dbbrewbeer.com) to that roster. Despite limited quantities (he can produce 30 to 40 litres in one go) it’s a regular sell-out when he lugs a few kegs down to the DB Sunday Market.

“Selling out is great, because obviously people are choosing it over more commercial brands,” he says with a wide grin. “It also means I don’t have to carry full kegs back up the hill.” DB Brew comes in standard 355-millilitre cans, and handy 3-litre party kegs, and despite the boutique operation, Maverick’s not price-gouging: a can will run you HK$50. “Will you pay more for better?” he asks. Yes, I will. He seems relieved.

As it stands, Maverick has a stable of regular brews he cooks up, but kind of like a winemaker, he can’t guarantee they’ll be identical each time. He has his basic ideas, but depending on where he gets his hops, or what extra local ingredients catch his eye on any given day the profiles can change. It doesn’t get more crafty than that.

“I select different hops – sourced from countries like New Zealand and the US – based on the distinct flavour profiles I aim to achieve in each beer,” Maverick explains. “Local ingredients also play a big part. For instance, when brewing my Lychee Sea Salt Gose, I forage wild lychees from DB, at a secret spot few people know about.

“Some batches are seasonal releases, some are crowd-pleasers, back by popular demand,” he adds, starting with a breakdown of the popular (for good reason) Hong Kong Sister double hazy IPA. “It’s unfiltered and it’s hazy because of the extra hops. This one is very popular because it’s refreshing, perfect for the city’s sweltering summer nights.” It’s among his bestsellers, alongside what may be DB Brew’s signature Harvest Pumpkin Ale: clear, golden and loaded with autumn spices. As is evident in the name, it was supposed to be a Halloween one-off that’s now a regular thanks to widespread interest. Maverick’s meaty Chungking Express stout has all the richness of Coffee Stout, the citrusy Pier Belgian Witbier – a spicy wheat beer and his wife’s favourite – is an elegant sipper for the terrace, and a pair of all-purpose IPAs in the light Tai Pak Beach and its stronger cousin TGH Sunset complete the current stable.

Hong Kong Sister and Chunking Express each won a prize in the Home Brew section at the 2025 Talos- Master Cup China Beer Tournament in March. Sister won 4th Place in the Hazy IPA category and Chungking took Bronze in the Medium Dark Ale group.

Maverick can go on at length about hops – how mixing up the ratio of New Zealand, American or Czech varieties changes his beer profiles – and about how temperature control is his biggest hurdle. He’d prefer to work closer to home, but he’s on his way to a meeting in Shenzhen to see about a larger space to use as a proper factory.

“There’s only so much I can make on my own in my kitchen, and having a toddler around isn’t ideal, for him,” he says. “I’ve been looking around DB and Hong Kong but the right space is still hard to find. A bigger space means I can produce more regularly, then I can offer it to restaurants and shops. This is my career now, so that’s the goal.”

Maverick is also actively exploring retail spaces in DB: “I’m hoping to establish a permanent home where our community can easily find us,” he says. “This will allow me to consistently serve high-quality craft beer but it all hinges on finding landlords who value local brands and offer reasonable rents. After all, great beer deserves a welcoming space, and supportive landlords make that possible.”

If all goes to plan Maverick will be able to enter DB Brew in the Professional section at Talos-Master Cup one day, but for now he’s concentrating on building the brand. Of course, he’s got a digital inventory tracker that tells buyers if their six-pack is available, and if you don’t feel like picking up Maverick delivers – within reason.

“Well like I said, I’m just one guy right now, so I can only deliver around DB,” he finishes, adding with a cheeky grin, “but if you order enough 3-litre kegs I might make an exception.”