47,000Booking.com voters claim Hanoi as Best City for Beer Lovers

[ASEAN NOW News]

Hanoi, home to one of the first breweries in Vietnam under French colonial rule back in the late nineteenth century, "is a must-visit beer haven where you can see beer lovers sitting on plastic stools with a pint of bia hoi in hand," U.S.-based Booking.com said in a statement.

 

The survey was conducted among a sample of adults who have traveled for business or leisure in the past 12 months and must be planning to travel in the next 12 months. In total 47,728 respondents across 28 countries and territories were polled.

 

Among Vietnamese beer destinations favored by global travelers, Hanoi is followed by HCMC, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Da Nang.

 

The first brewery in Hanoi opened in the 1890s. After the Hanoi beer brewing factory was set up, beer culture caught on quickly. Bia hoi, roughly translated as fresh beer, is locally brewed and made fresh every day, containing only 3 percent alcohol.

 

Foreign tourists sit at a beer stall in Ta Hien-Luong Ngoc Quyen intersection in Hanoi, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

 

According to Booking.com, the intersection of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen streets in Hanoi's Old Quarter, dubbed a 'beer hub," is a famous address to enjoy ice-cold glasses of bia hoi on plastic chairs, which has become part of Hanoi culture.

 

The area is home to dozens of bars, restaurants, and street beer stalls, which were often fully packed up until 1-2 a.m. before the pandemic broke out in Vietnam.

 

Most bia hoi joints also serve inexpensive street food like prawns barbecued with chili and salt, clams steamed with lemongrass, or green mango with a prawn-chili-salt dip.

 

A glass of bia hoi, of about 300 milliliters, costs between VND7,000-10,000 ($0.30-0.43), while a bottle or a can of beer can cost anywhere between VND25,000-200,000.

 

Vietnam consumed more than 4.6 billion liters of beer in 2019, an increase of more than 10 percent from 2018. The country spends an average $3.4 billion on alcohol each year, translating to $300 per capita, according to the Ministry of Health.

 

Sipping on a cold beer on a weekend night, alone or with a friend, is a familiar hobby for a generation of young people in Vietnam. Beer, a now-indispensable fact of life in both urban and rural areas, has generated endless discussion.

 

The rise of the local craft beer industry is one example of how Vietnam cannot seem to get enough of the drink.

 

Long History

 

Alfred Hommel established the first brewery in Hanoi in 1890 to quench the thirsts of French soldiers and sell his product to locals. At the time, Vietnamese people were unfamiliar with the drink which was a far cry from the traditional rice wines served in their homes.

 

In 1957, Hommel’s brewery belonged to the state, becoming the official brewery of Hanoi. This formed the basis for today’s Hanoi Beer, Alcohol, Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (HABECO). The Hanoi brewery launched its first locally styled beer in 1960, and it took off from there.

 

In the 1960s, as one walked the streets of Hanoi, it was easy to spot signs advertising Bia Hoi—labeled the cheapest beer in the world—and Bia Ha Noi, with barrels outside shops carrying liters of the drink.

 

But perhaps the most remarkable shift in Vietnamese beer culture has taken place from 2015 to the present day.

 

Craft beer arose and began to grab attention with a fever contagious to domestic and foreign consumers alike.

 

Vietnam’s craft beer scene does not merely represent the reproduction of processes borrowed from the west.

 

Rather, local businesses incorporate unique, native ingredients like tropical fruits and poisonous spices to create flavors that accompany the weather, foods, and customs of the country.

 

And so, the history of beer in Vietnam flows on. With figures predicting the growth momentum of alcohol businesses in our country to continue to spike, it seems there is a creative path waiting for beer aficionados long into the future.

 

So when international travellers eventually return, expect Hanoi to become the new beer captial of SE Asia.

 

 

[Caldera]

1 hour ago, ASEAN NOW News said:

The survey was conducted among a sample of adults who have traveled for business or leisure in the past 12 months and must be planning to travel in the next 12 months.

Never mind that Vietnam hasn't been issuing tourist visas for more than a year and that it's unknown when they will resume issuing them.

 

That being said, yes, sitting on a sidewalk sipping Bia Hoi used to be fun in Hanoi.

[topt]

7 hours ago, ASEAN NOW News said:

and poisonous spices

really?

[Troy Tempest]

3.0% ABV .....WHY would you bother??? 

[BritManToo]

Been there, drank the beer, didn't think it was special.

Guessing the OP has never been there.

 

Hanoi is great for sight seeing, but it's not a great party town.

If you want wild evenings out, go south to Saigon and Vung Tau.

 

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

57 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Been there, drank the beer, didn't think it was special.

Guessing the OP has never been there.

 

Hanoi is great for sight seeing, but it's not a great party town.

If you want wild evenings out, go south to Saigon and Vung Tau.

 

 

Agree. Found the regular bia hoi pleasant enough. Something like 4,000 to 7,000 VND a small (12 0z/330ml) glass. Maybe even (through the fog of memory) as low as 3500 VND/5 baht. 

 

Agree 2: Hanoi not a party town. Ho Chi Minh is for evening activities. And is THE place for brew pubs: Pasteur, Fuzzy Logic, East-West, Heart of Darkness, Winking Seal, Te Te and more. What is also great are the Euro beers that can be found reasonably priced in many pubs. E.g., Belgian Heverlee White (Witte) is only a 100,000 VND/130 baht. In summary, Saigon is flooded with great, affordable beer.

 

No source on the OP story, either. Google search, however, brought up Viet Reader as publisher of this story. Never heard of this news site before. 

 

https://vietreader.com/travel/48311-hanoi-is-voted-to-be-best-city-for-beer-lovers.html