Quest for beer – Hanoi edition

HANOI, VIETNAM – Back by popular demand (well, mainly because my beer distributor son in Seattle asked me to write some more), here is another report on my global quest for good beer.

(You can read about my search for “real Scotch ale” here)

Melanie and I have been in Hanoi for about 5 1/2 weeks now, settled into our apartment for a month. I, of course, have been checking out the local beer options ever since we arrived.

During our 9-day stay at the Hanoi Old Town Hotel when we first got here, we sampled the two brews available in bottles at the hotel – Hanoi Beer and Tiger Beer. They offered Hanoi for 20,000 Vietnamese Dong (VND), or about 90 cents, and Tiger for 25,000 VND ($1.10).

Both were quite drinkable, with decent body and flavor, and not too hoppy (my top requirement for drinkability). Tiger was just a little more bitter, so I usually opted for a bottle (or two) of Hanoi. Mel preferred Tiger Beer.

As we wandered around the winding streets and alleyways of Old Town, one day we stumbled upon a small pub advertising “craft beer” and offering a “two for one” happy hour. We logged a mental note and vowed to return another day at the appointed time.

Mental notes are not the same as written ones

Alas, mental notes are not quite the same as actual written ones, so when a few days later we decided to take advantage of their twofer, we were unable to remember just where the place was. After about 45 minutes or so of searching/wandering in circles, we returned to our hotel and sat down with bottles of Hanoi and Tiger as consolation.

Fast forward two more days: Again exploring the endlessly fascinating Old Town section of Hanoi, we once more stumbled upon the pub, just a block away from where we had originally searched for it. This time we went inside while it was right there in front of us.

As we had suspected, the “two for one” discount brought the price down to just “expensive” (by Hanoi standards, anyway) rather than the “outrageously expensive” regular price. It ended up being roughly comparable to the price we were paying for craft beers back in the Pacific Northwest – about $4-$5 for a pint (as I said, expensive by Hanoi standards).

Fortunately, the beer was pretty good, if a bit hoppy for my taste. It was brewed by the Pasteur Street Brewing Company in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). The pub offered a couple different brews, as well as some “corn wine” that we decided not to taste – at least not during that visit.

Once we left the safe haven of the hotel, settled into our own apartment and started exploring our neighborhood near Truc Bach Lake, we discovered that the Circle K store a block away has a pretty good selection of local and regional beers in 330 ml cans. We can buy Hanoi Beer there for 12,000 VND (53 cents) and Tiger Beer for 17,000 (75 cents). They also have several others ranging in price from 12,000 to 21,000 VND.

The best of the lot so far is something called Viet Black. At 21,000 VND (about 95 cents) for a 330 ml can, it’s at the top end of the Circle K price scale for local beers… and worth every Dong… er, cent.

Viet Black is a nice full-bodied dark beer without a lot of bitterness. Quite tasty. After dinner, I often have one of these, followed by a can of Hanoi to keep my average cost down. Mel still likes Tiger, so we keep some of those around, too.

As I said, the store has a pretty good selection of canned beers, probably a dozen or more varieties, including things like Budweiser and Heineken (which we never drank back in the States anyway). Here are my thoughts on some of the others we’ve tried:

Chang (17,000 VND): Brewed in Thailand, the can features a nice logo with two elephants standing under a shower of beer (At least I guess it’s a beer shower; or maybe it’s a tree. Whatever it is, it’s a nice label). A decent lager, quite drinkable, but not any better than Hanoi Beer and half again as much money.

Truc Bach (13,000 VND): This one is not good. Named after the horribly polluted lake nearby, Truc Bach tastes like it was brewed from lake water. Seriously. I stupidly bought two cans to sample, and barely choked down the second one.

Zorok (12,000 VND): Sounds like some outer space bad guy with a foul attitude. Here’s a beer with a taste to match. Not good. This marked the last time I was dumb enough to buy two cans of a new beer.

As our explorations ranged a little further, we discovered a supermarket of sorts a few blocks south of our apartment, with better prices than the Circle K or Vinmart (our other local convenience store). They don’t carry everything (no Viet Black beer), but they have a bunch of other beer varieties, including several Russian beers in larger cans. We haven’t tried any of the Russian ones yet (they’re about twice the price of the Vietnamese brands), but we did find a couple other local flavors to try.

Saigon Lager (11,000 VND): Another light, refreshing beer. Similar to Bia Hanoi, but just slightly bitter.

Saigon Special (13,000 VND): This one is good. Light like their lager, but with just a little more body (and a little more alcohol, 4.9% versus 4.3% for the lager).

That’s it for now on the beer quest. I’ll keep checking them out as I run across new ones, but right now it’s time to kick back with another cold one!

 

It’s not always about the beer, no matter what John might think sometimes. Are you as crazy about the beer you drink? Let’s hear you thoughts.

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