Bia hoi - Experience

Due to the bad weather in the south of the country, I decided to stay longer in the north. So yesterday was once again Old Town time. During this time, I met a pair of sisters from Germany with whom I later went out on the town. While we were wandering around, we came across a very inviting entrance with 30cm high plastic stools, with each of the locals drinking something that looked like beer on the stools. So we sat down and were greeted with a friendly 'Bia!'. A quick showing of three fingers made it clear to the lady what our order was, which she promptly executed 😉. In return, she held up a 10,000 Dong note and pointed to a glass, which unmistakably led to us promptly getting out our wallets. (Editor's note: 10,000 Dong is about 38 cents)

The drink was called 'Bia hoi' according to the hostess, which means fresh beer. This is beer brewed by the locals themselves, sometimes sold at street food stalls. For this, it is either tapped directly from the metal barrel in which it was brewed, or - as in our case - poured from some self-built container constructions to keep it cold. The alcohol content is said to fluctuate between 2 and 4% depending on the 'brewmaster's' mood. In any case, it was very drinkable and didn't lead to a hangover. 🍺💪👍