Cambodia/Laos … The Beers.

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Stumblingpiper

This will be a pretty short post — we traveled to a few places in these two countries. We took a boat ride up the Mekong from Vietnam to Cambodia stopping in Phnom Penh. Then we drove from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, stayed there a few days, and then flew to Luang Prabang in Laos. We traveled by boat from there (on the Upper Mekong) to Thailand. During this whole time, I actually only saw a few local beers.

In Cambodia, it was “Angkor.” I think I had one called “Cambodia Beer” too.

Both your typical warm-weather lagers … they were refreshing, but very limited. In Laos, it was even worse … just “Beerlao.”

However, you could get “dark” or “light” … both lagers. Oh well. I tried to get other beers, but they were usually out of the imports.

Oh, I forgot — we did try a local brew — it was Rice Whiskey … here’s the “Still.” The dog must have been at the alcohol.

However, after drinking it, I could swear this “lion” statue looked like a monkey. Haha.

Actually, it was very clean and crisp — and had a good kick!

Lol. On to Thailand!

Beer Mentor

Craft “Bia” (beer) … Vietnam.

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Stumblingpiper

We had an opportunity to tour from the North of Vietnam down to the South … In my previous post I shared all the different beers we had an opportunity to sample. From my 20 days of observation (very limited, I know) I came to this conclusion: Craft is alive and well in Vietnam. I wouldn’t call it American-style craft, but Viet Nam-style.

For instance, when we were in Hanoi, I didn’t see many “craft beer” places; however, they did serve “fresh” beer (see previous post). This is “craft” in my mind … small batches, serving the style the people enjoy, as fresh as possible–all very reasonably priced as well.

I didn’t see “craft” in the smaller cities (Hue, Hoi An, Sapa, etc), but we did see it in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). In Saigon I saw several craft beer / breweries on Google maps. I sampled beers from “Heart of Darkness” and visited Gammel Bier. They were both well-crafted. The place I really enjoyed was Pasteur Street Brewing.

It was near our Hotel (across the street). It wasn’t completely obvious how to get there, but the sign pointed to the alley … once in the alley it was easy to find the tap room.

We joined the other ex-pats/Europeans upstairs … there weren’t any Vietnamese (except for the servers). The beer was excellent (and so was the music).

It was kind of strange hearing Vietnam War protest songs while there but I guess it works for them. The food was excellent as well. Overall I would rate this place very highly and would recommend it as a locale for anyone visiting Saigon and looking for great beer.

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

Viet Nam: The Beers.

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Stumblingpiper

I just spent 20 days traveling through Viet Nam … I was pleasantly surprised with the beer offerings. As I have found in most warm weather climates, the predominant beer style is the American or European-style lager. In Hanoi, Sapa, Hue, Hoi An and on Halong Bay I had the following beers … most of the larger cities just have beers with their names.

This premium lager, Hanoi Beer, was typical … a malt base with a rice flavor in support. Not overly bitter … just a crisp, refreshing beer.This was a “beer cocktail.” The first thing it should have is real beer. This Tiger crystal is terrible — it is a poor imitation of bud light. However, the Tiger beer itself is pretty good. It too is just a firm lager.This DaiViet (which means ‘Great Viet’ … the great Viet empire) is a dark lager, in the German Altbier style … I enjoyed it as a refreshing alternative to all of the light lagers I’d been drinking. This is considered the National Beer of Vietnam … 333. It has a long history in Saigon, where it was originally named “33 beer”– a very popular beer with American GIs during the Vietnam War. The government changed the name to 333 after the war. 🙂

Not really that great … just a typical lager.Another premium Lager … this one, yes, is from Ha Long.Finally, I had this beer in Hanoi although it is a made in Saigon. As with most lagers here, don’t you want yours poured over ice? Haha. If you thought it was watered down before … wow.

This, too, was another premium lager, but they do taste good on a warm day when you’ve been riding around the countryside .

In Hanoi, there was another option for beer — it was called “Fresh Beer.” It was basically a very locally produced beer cask conditioned in a keg. Typically, when placed in the Keg, it would last 5 days — once opened, the keg had to be finished in 24 hours. You could get a glass for 5,000 dong (about 20 US cents). I thought it had a very nice, fresh flavor. If you find a place serving it, definitely cheaper than the rest and just as good!

In Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), I was able to sample some local craft beers. The three breweries were: Heart of Darkness, Gammer, and Pasteur Street Brewing. I will have a separate post on Pasteur Street. I also had the local mass produced beer.

The Heart of Darkness beers were very good, but if you were concerned about what you were spending, these beers were between $4 and $5 dollars … if not concerned, I’d drink these all day long. The New England IPA just made me laugh …

We stopped for lunch one day in Saigon … at Gammer Brewery. Here’s a couple of pictures of their brewery setup. They specialized in German and Czech-style beers. I had the dark beer which was in the Schwarzbier style. Definitely recommend. Nice beer. The food was very traditional Vietnamese … and they don’t speak much English so be prepared! 🙂