Vietnamese Beer

333: Vietnamese Lager, 5.3% (Saigon Beer Company)
It’s quite robust, with some bright tropical fruits and quite a bit of malt and mediumhops. It has some honey sweetness, with a bitter finish. It’s pronounced “ba ba ba” in Vietnamese, which is a huge bonus. 5/10
5 Elements (Chu Teu series) Vang: Lager, 4.8% (Brewhaha)
White grapes, even white wine spritzer. Slightly tart, but overall a bit bogged down for a lager. 5/10
5 Elements (Chu Teu series) Den: Schwarzbier, 5.2% (Brewhaha)
Slightly muddy, with a bit of leather, dark chocolate, coffee and cocoa. Not too bitter. Good mouthfeel, with a bit of bite. 6.5/10
5 Elements (Hoppiness series) XPA: Extra Pale Ale, 5.6% (Brewhaha)
Light hoppiness. Cantaloupe, white grapefruit and a blast of pear drops. Light, with a refreshing crispness. Somewhat dry and bitter on the finish. Medium carbonation. 7.5/10
5 Elements (Hoppiness series) Manchester IPA: IPA, 5.9% (Brewhaha)
Huge hops. Some biscuit, and some grassy hops and a finish of pine bitterness. Not fruity at all. 5/10
5 Elements (Hoppiness series) Bohemian Pils: Pils, 4.8% (Brewhaha)
Dry, but with a pleasant sweetness. Quite fruity; pears, apples. And green guava really stand out. It’s very hoppy for a pils, and not as as crisp and single minded as a pils probably should be. 7/10
5 Elements Thuy – Vierge Blonde: Golden Ale, 4.6% (Brewhaha)
Smells of cement. Dusty. Light and metallic, with big tropical fruits, some lychees and gooseberries and a small amount of yeasty esters. 6.5/10
5 Elements Pacific Mộc: Pale Ale: 5.2% (Brewhaha)
Smells of blood. Huge hops. Some white pepper, and papaya, but otherwise the fruit is very muted. Good bite at the end. 5.5/10
5 Elements Fiery Red: Belgian-style Red Ale, 6.8% (Brewhaha)
Black pepper, cola. Slightly herbal and medicinal. Very gassy. A finish of menthol mouthwash. 7/10
5 Elements Thổ – Black Forest Ale: Brown Ale, 4.9% (Brewhaha)
High, rolling carbonation. Huge coffee and roasted barley, with malty sweetness. Some citrusy hops and a hint of almonds. Great sweet/bitter balance. 7.5/10
5 Elements Weizen: 4.6% (Brewhaha)
Bananas, strong bubblegum sweetness and some citrus. Faint chamomile. Fluffy mouthfeel. A bit too sweet. Nice enough, but I wouldn’t want a pint of it. 5/10
Bia Viet: Lager, 4.5% (Heineken Vietnam)
Shallow but refreshing, with the usual light crispness and a little fruit zing. It does the job in the heat in the usual one-dimensional way. 4.5/10
Halida: Lager, 5% (South East Asia Brewery)
Clean and crisp with high carbonation and some citrus. It does what’s intended and what all of these similar lagers do – go well with spicy food in a hot country. It’s broadly neutral, but with a metallic aftertaste that sinks it below the others of this style. Thankfully beer is cheap in Vietnam. 4/10
Hu’o’ng Bia Classic American: IPA, 5.5% (Hu’o’ng DaNang Craft Beer)
White Grapefruit and old vegetables. Virtually no hops. Some sharpness of rhubarb and gooseberries. A bit of a sticky mouthfeel. 4.5/10
Hu’o’ng Bia Caramen Taste: Stout, 5.6% (Hu’o’ng DaNang Craft Beer)
The expected coffee and dark chocolate. Roasted beans. Slightly smokey BBQ and some cheap tobacco. A bit flat. 5/10
Hu’o’ng Bia Tropical Taste: Pale Ale, 4.2% (Hu’o’ng DaNang Craft Beer)
Rice. Grapefruit and some orange pith bitterness. Dry malt and not enough body. Very dry finish. 4/10
Hu’o’ng Bia Nuts Taste: Red Ale, 4.5% (Hu’o’ng DaNang Craft Beer)
Pond water. Weak and thin. Faint walnuts. 2.5/10
Hu’o’ng Bia Green Taste: Green Ale 4.5%, (Hu’o’ng DaNang Craft Beer)
A heavy hit of pandan and a light sweetness of vanilla. A delicate background flavour of rice paper and a little bit of marshmallow. Very low carbonation. If it wasn’t a bit flat this would be really, really good. 7/10
IBC Imperial: Sparkling Ale, 5.6% (Imperial Craft Bia Brewpub)
Mezcal smokiness. Slight caramel, but has a bite to it. Boiled vegetables and a bit grainy. Dry on the finish. A bit flat, despite the name. 5/10
IBC Buenas Tardes: Mexican Lager 4.7% (Imperial Craft Bia Brewpub)
Semi-sweet pale malt and some moderate grassy hops. Background taste of rubber. Slight lime. 5.5/10
IBC Citra Crush: Hazy IPA, 5.8% (Imperial Craft Bia Brewpub)
Slightly resinous. Mangoes and some tangerines, but otherwise the citrus is quite muted. Moderately bitter and hoppy. A grainy, semolina feel to it, and a bit flabby. 4.5/10
IBC Liquid Liberty: Stout, 6.5% (Imperial Craft Bia Brewpub)
Earthy, light chocolate, roasted malts and some caramel. Mid bodied. Bitter without being acrid. 6.5/10
IBC VIP: Brown Ale, 4.1% (Imperial Craft Bia Brewpub)
Bread crusts, some nuts and some subtle red berries. Slight whiff of leather and wood. A touch thin. 5.5/10
IBC Hue Showcase: Basil Gose, 3% (Imperial Craft Bia Brewpub)
Grim. Dish water with some lemon and stewed basil. Made me wish I was coeliac. 1/10
IBC Flirting With Catastrophe: Red DIPA, 7.6% (Imperial Craft Bia Brewpub)
Lots of berries and some subtle red wine, balanced by some bitter herbal hops. A smidgen of spiciness. Some pine comes through at the end. Very low carbonation. 6.5/10
IBC Strawberry Fields: Shandy 3.5% (Imperial Craft Bia Brewpub)
Generic red boiled sweets – not distinctly strawberry flavoured. Very sweet. Faint grassiness. There’s no pop to it. 3/10
Pasteur Street Jasmine IPA: 6.5% (Pasteur Street Craft Beer)
The Jasmine is very faint and doesn’t linger. Quite light. Predominantly lemon, with a herbal and floral character, and the bitterness of grapefruit rind. Good hoppiness at the beginning. 7/10
Red Ruby: Lager, 4.3% (Masan Master Brewer)
Slightly malty, with very little hops. Not as refreshing as many of the others, and it has a coppery note and a sweet aftertaste. 4/10
Saigon: Lager, 4.3% (Saigon Beer Company)
It’s medium bodied, which is surprising for such a low abv lager. There’s a whiff of hay and lots of fragrant tea. This has some cereal notes and is slightly floral. 5/10
Saigon Export Premium: Lager, 4.9% (Saigon Beer Company)
It definitely does taste a bit heftier than the standard Saigon beer, plus a bit more heavy on the hops with some wheat in there as well. It has a honey sweetness and a deeper toasted malt than a thin lager. It’s missing some sharpness and bitterness though, which make it a bit unbalanced. 4.5/10

Saigon Special: Lager, 4.9% (Saigon Beer Company)
This one is cleaner and crisper, with a citrus bite. It’s a bit floral and herbal. Good bitterness, the balancing sweetness tastes almost caramelised. It is a little thin though, when it should be more robust at this strength. 4.5/10
Tamero Lonely Brave: Pandan Weizen, 5.2% (Tamero Craft Beer)
The pandan is very light, and is a great compliment to banana bread. A bit of minerality and lightly spiced. It is a tad thin and doesn’t have a big weizen character. 6/10

Tamero The Gangster: Stout, 7.8% (Tamero Craft Beer)
Some char, heavily toasted brown bread, rich coffee and dark cocoa.
Quite hearty
with a balanced bitter malt finish. 7/10
Tamero The Pilot: Smoked Pale Lager, 6.5% (Tamero Craft Beer)
Baked bread, pale malt sweetness. Nicely caramelised. Grapes, jerky and a slight bitterness. The smoke is very delicate and the finish remains clean. 5.5/10
Tamero The Sailor: Pilsner, 5.2% (Tamero Craft Beer)
Barley, with a subtle hops aftertaste. Bread, grass and some lemon peel. It’s quite bready and grainy, with a hint of pollen. 5/10
Tamero Triple R: Belgian-style Ale, 7.3% (Tamero Craft Beer)
Tart green apples, pears, green guava, pepper and grassy hops. Some muesli. Full and crisp. 7/10

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