Craft beer guide to Yerevan and Armenia

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Beertraveller

Article by Jonathan Gharbi de Mare, reposted from https://abudhabibeer.com/2023/02/09/craft-beer-in-armenia/.

I visited Armenia in early October 2022 with perfect weather and amazing experiences. Both wine and craft beer is on the rise and its also a coffee loving nation so there little bit of everything for everyone ! But lets go through all the interesting beer places worth a visit. If you are interested in wine, just wait a week for the upcoming wine guide !

Armenia is a beautiful mountanious country with long warm summers and cold winters. It’s one of the older wine growing regions but it’s during the last ten years most things happened. With foreign help the wineries got help and developed much. The wine guide is coming in the next post. People drank vodka and brandy during the Soviet times but has now changed to beer and wine. Armenia is mostly famous for the wines while the beer still is the smaller glass. Many of todays brewers are educated in making wine but learned how to brew beer later. The beer history is shorter and the craft wave started a few years ago with Dargett as the leading brewery.

Craft beer in Yerevan

People often refer to the development of craft beer as a wave, the craft beer wave. But in Armenia it’s more of a calm river. It’s moving forward at a steady pace. It’s not very wild, ipa and sour beers are still something new to many. Some brewers made sours and experimental beers but returned to more basic styles since the demand was low. The pioneers are Dargett craft beer, who are the first and the leading craft beer brand. Their brew pub is in central Yerevan.

Dargett Craft Beer

The name and the logo comes from the old Babylonian kingdom when Babylonia reached the sea but they had no words for it and called it the river that tastes bitter. Dar means river and get means bitter. The logo illustrates the former babylonian kingdom. Dargett is not a small brewpub, they have also a big brewery with 4000 liter fermenters outside Yerevan and export to other countries. The brewery under the pub has a smaller capacity but is constantly in use. The brewers are former wine makers but learned to make beer and they does it really good. They brew everything from light ipas to their Armenian Imperial Stout aged on brandy barrels. Brandy is also something very particular for Armenia. They have brewed 30 different beers so far.

Dargett does also make collaboration beers with Belgian and Italian brewers. To have two brew houses requires a solid economy and they have it, which is the base for future development. Many breweries in developing beer countries are struggling to scale up to the level with 1000-2000 liter brew houses which makes it possible to brew around 300 000 liters per year, depending on the fermenter size. Big fermenters are expensive, Dargett has 7000 liters which are costly but with temperature control and surface needed for it, we are talking about a coouple of million dollars for that size. While a 50 liter brew house and a few 100 liter fermenters can be bought for less than 15 000 dollars.

Well at Dargett craft beer pub, it’s time to taste and talk to the brewers. Unfortunately they speak very little English but many in the staff are bilingual or trilingual and always helpful. It’s really a nice place to visit, 21 taps with their own beer, nice food and ambiance!

Brewers on Dargett is Ashot Soghomonyan and Karina Asoyan

Dargett has plans to develop the beer line since the market is beginning to change. The special beers are sometimes just served on bottle or just a few hundred liters. But since they also export on bottle it’s helping them to develop their styles.

Dargett has the best potential in Armenia and a strong company behind so they will continue to develop. A beer is around 4 dollar so relax and enjoy ! Their apricot ale is delicious and made with local fruit.

Torch & Brew

This is where House of the Dragon, the sequel to Game of Thrones , is shown together with three kinds of beer. They have three beers only but the wheat ale is amazing ! The master brewer worked before for Dargett which explains why the beers are so good. Torch and Brew opened recently (early 2022) and have plans to introduce more beers so keep an eye on them. As for now they have a weizen, lager and an ale. They have plans to export and open up a big brewery so let’s see.

Dors craft beer and kicthen

The second craft beer bar after Dargett craft beer is Dors craft beer and kitchen. They have seven craft beers and a cider. The beers are not that wild but true to their style. Dors tried to serve a sour once but the customers didn’t like it too much. The beer scene is not ready for lots of sours, imperial porters, ipas and tripple dry hopped beers. Some ask for it but it is still not enough demand. You need to take a minibus to Tbilisi in Georgia to sample beers like that but hopefully the beer scene in Armenia will reach that point in one to two years. Dors is a beer destination but is more small scale. They have made nine beers so far with their ipa and apa as the most popular.

Beer Academy

They have their own brewery and six beers are brewed but the styles are milder than at Dors. So they are making gateway beers, suitable for the ones who prefers something between craft beer and lager. But it might change soon since more beers are planned. They have two excellent restaurants with good food, service and nice design. Just worth a visit to see the interior design.

The club upstairs opens later and is perfect when you are tired of beer and need a fancy drink.

Armenia is small and just one hour from Yerevan you can experience beautiful nature and pitoresque villages. People love their beer and it’s even possible to buy growlers, reusable plastic bottles you can bring home.

Bottles and growlers at the super market, Dargett has two taps with beer

If you need some fresh cold air and love mountains and small villages, take a bus to Dilijan, about one hour from Yerevan. You can also reach it by taxi for a good price when using the local taxi app. It’s called the Switzerland of Armenia and since it’s high up in the mountains , the temeperature drops a few degrees when reaching there. It’s a small town perfect for a day trip. Cute bakeries, small restaurants and of course perfectly roasted coffe can be consumed in the fresh air.

Coffee is not grown in Armenia but they import raw beans and most cafees have their own roasting machine so the coffee is always tasty. The picture above is from Yerevans Wine street where people gather to either drink wine or coffee. Beans are collected from all over the world and the roasting is so good that Armenia is exporting roasted beans to the region.

It’s a small country with few flights so it can get cheaper to fly with wizz air from Abu Dhabi to Yerevan. You can also fly to Georgia. Read the beer guide to Georgia here. Since it’s just six hours with a minibus between, many visitors arrive from Tbilisi. The roads are curvy and jumpy so if you get car sick easily, forget the minibus.

The French connection is strong, visit the fountain at Charles Aznavour square above. Armenia is well worth a visit and since it’s small you can experience much of the country in a short while.

Armenia is small, people are welcoming and correct, prices are low and nature beautiful. Wine, coffee and craft beer are blooming. Just go there ! Since there are few tourists it still feels very genuin and tourist traps are very few.

Posted in Beer travel, International reports | Tagged armenia, armenian beer, Armenian craft beer, craft beer in Armenia, yerevan | Leave a comment

Beer guide to Georgia

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Beertraveller

Reposted from www.abudhabibeer.com

Georgia is a new tourist destination in the heart of the Caucasus. More people are discovering the beautiful landscapes and interesting culture that Georgia has. The capital Tbilisi has much to offer and is easy to explore with it´s subway and buses. The history is rich and many old forts and walls are well preserved.

Georgia is easy to reach from Armenia and is also neighbour to Russia, Turkey and Azerbajdzjan. The population is just a few millions and it’s a small mountanious country filled with wine, beer and castles. Georgia is most know for the locally produced wines, specially the orange colored wine. But from now on lets hope they also will be known for their excellent craft beer culture. I arrived in Tbilisi after 5-6 hours bud ride from Yerevan. The weather in October is really nice and no need for more than a t-shirt.

Booming craft beer scene

The number of breweries are increasing and the variation of beers are really impressive. You can find any beer style in Tbilisi. But it is still relative new so many small issues remain. Since all breweries are small, many beers are hard to find. Many places are relative new so the staff might not be ready for all the questions you have.

One reason why all the breweries must have their own house bar is because there often is problems with payments and planning. Very few shops have a good supply of beers, look for the house bars to make sure you get a taste of each brewery. Many taps are empty so always ask what beers are available. On mondays you are guaranteed that most taps are empty. The spectrum is wide, from small empty bars with bad supply up to excellent bars with amazing staff and many beers on tap and bottle.

Practical information

Many visitors are visa free so it’s just to get an entry stamp in the passport. Border crossing with bus from Armenia is easy and border police are speaking English. If you enter by air it’s really fast and smooth. You just have to provide the adress of your hotel. Corruption and criminality is low but 20 years ago it was completely different. The corruption was high but the government did a good clean up. Since the country is candidate for both NATO and the European Union they are working hard to develop. The tourism is booming so there are many hotels to choose from but you need to book a few weeks before to avoid high prices. If you arrive from Armenia it feels like there are 3-4 times more tourists in Georgia. Many restaurants and hotels does not take card so make sure you have some cash, you can easily use any ATM to take out money. One thing you notice is all the stray dogs that roam around the streets but most of them are vaccinated. Tbilisi is surrounded with hills easy to walk up to, bring proper shoes for a walk with a view.

The best craft beer bars in Tbilisi

One of the most interesting breweries is Megrobrebi Craft Beer that has Tsota Tsota as their house bar. Megobrebi have brewed around 70 different beers and are part of the new wave. They mix styles and ingredients. Much of the beer is exported and the beers popular so it’s hard to find them. Thats why many visit their house bar Tsota Tsota, to be sure to get the beer you are looking for. The milk stout Tiflis Night is one of the most popular ones. Tsota is very popular and it’s often rush to the bar during the weekends.

There are around a dozen good craft breweries in Georgia and most of them are in and around Tbilisi. After Megrobrebi, a visit to Naturale breweries house bar Naturale. The bar is on the street level in the house above and is a popular spot for nice people to meet and drink craft beer. Naturale has produced around 60 different beers, their Tomato gose and IPA is the most popular. Their cans and bottles are designed with creativity and humour.

Passion behind the bar. Naturale bar is small but personal and filled with interesting beer lovers. Perfect place to sit by the bar and sample beers. The prices range from 6 to 8 lari which is below 3 euro.

Sma bar is another cosy bar to visit but is one of the smaller ones so people tend to be outside during the summer time. It’s the house bar for Seahorse brewery that has 16 different beers so far, at the bar they often have six beers available on tap.

Another brewery is 9 MTA thats making good craft beer and they have a bar with imported beers. During my visit in Tbilisi I made a trip to the end of the metro line to meet the guys behind Underground Microbrewery. They have a background in geology and thats also why all the beers has names related to the field. Triassic IPA, Magnetite and Permafrost are a few examples of their most popular beers. The beers are well made and the ambition is high so let’s hope to see more of their beers the coming year. The brewery is situated in one of the old Soviet style suburbs but beers sold in town at various bars.

They have a small brew house, only 300 liter which is in constant use. The demand for craft beer is high but so also the prices to scale up to 500 or 1000 liter brewhouse with 2000 liter fermenters. The investment is huge for a 1000 liter brewhouse so many tend to stay at smaller levels and prefer to brew more until they reach a level where it is impossible to keep up with the demand.

So many beers to try, so many breweries to visit. You need at least four days to have the time to sample the most interesting beer at a normal pace. Tblisi is well worth a visit and it’s not too touristy yet.

By Jonathan Gharbi de Mare at http://www.abudhabibeer.com

Posted in Activities and news | Tagged Beer travel, craft beer, craft beer georgia, craft beer tbilisi, Georgia, megobrebi brewery, naturale, Tbilisi, travel | 1 Comment

Craft beer in Bosnia and Hercegovina

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Beertraveller

This is a repost from Abu Dhabi Beer Man about the beer scene in Bosnia which is similar to the beer scene in Vietnam in 2014-2015.

Your guide to craft beer in Bosnia and Hercegovina for 2022. Breweries, craft beer bars and a few tourist tips. Start in Sarajevo and sip your way through Mostar and Banja Luka.

**Your beer guide to Bosnia & Hercegovina**

Sarajevo

Sarajevo ! Charming small capital with amazing bars in 1920 speakeasy style and craft beer. Cheap to travel to and the perfect size for a 3-4 days visit. Both wizz air and ryan air runs to Tuzla, Sarajevo and Banja Luka. Sarajevo has around 700 000 inhabitants and the tourism is not too heavy. The town is in the middle of green mountains and pine forests. The river Miljacka is flowing under the famous Latin bridge. Visiting in April can be tricky with temperatures on 15°C (60°F) or snow some days, aim for May to September. Hotel prices are low and most restaurants depends on locals, not tourists. Instead of spending all your money at expensive destinations with expensive beers and food. Come to Sarajevo enjoy the freedom of having excellent craft beers for 2-3 euro each.

Sarajevo is calm, people are welcoming and many speak English. Take a taxi from the airport to the city center, check in and run out. Begin with a cup of espresso or a Turkish coffee. Save time by eating some cevap, the local grilled kebab with delicious bread and chopped onions.

Between the beers. Cevap with sausage and shopska salad with cheese

Make sure you have saved all the pins from this guide at your offline map, it’s time to start the journey. Begin along the main promenade and make the first stop at Fabrika which has 6-8 beers on tap and a good selection of craft beer. Delicious mixed meat platters goes perfect with beer. Their own beer should be ready now since it was on fermentation during the time of the visit. Fabrika is small and personal with helpful staff. They do also have happy hour with lager beers.

Fabrika has a handfull of Bosnian crafts

Continue to the the next craft beer bar which is a few hundred meters away. Gastropub Vucko has an extensive beer list with craft beers from Serbia, Croatia, Belgium and a couple of beers on tap. The sign outside says they have over 150 different beers to offer. Probably the best best beer selection in Sarajevo.

There are two speakeasy bars nearby. Zlatna Ribica (right picture) is a popular place for drinks and beautiful decorated. Balkan Express has live music on week ends and is just 200 m from Vucko. They serve regular lagers and sljivovica, the local spirits made from fruits.

Sarajevo is small and its easy to walk through the city center in less than 30 minutes. But there is also trams. Take tram nr 3 to Dolac Malta which is 300 meters from VOPI, the best craft beer bar in Sarajevo. It’s a three kilometers walk but the road is boring so better take a taxi or tram. If you are early, jump in to one of the beer yoga classes. The bar is situated in a quiet neighbourhood and you can order food from the restaurants near by. The brewer and owner Demir Dizdarevic is always there. He knows about all beers and beer related events in Bosnia. So if you are interested to know more about craft beer, visit VOPI. Pivo means beer and VOPI is just the letters turned around a bit. It’s a new brewery and very interesting to see where it goes. Demir is enthusiastic and involved in many beer events. The first beer registered on untappd was the Mornar pale ale in 2021.

Demir Dizdarevic, brewer and owner of VOPI

Pi brewery does also play with words, π as in pivo. Pi brewery is from Sarajevo and has been in operation since 2015 and has 19 beers on the beer app untappd and does modern crafts. Beers are sold on bottle all over Bosnia. The imperial IPA Utopia on 8 % is the most consumed.

Beer from Pi brewery and Laufer displayed outside VOPI

84 Olympics Brewery is also from Sarajevo and has a handfull of beers, mainly ales and IPA. The 84 Pale Ale is the most popular beer. And yes, the Olympics took place in Sarajevo in 1984.

The third one from Sarajevo is Gelender, also a micro brewery and has six beers with the IPA Vasco Da Gama and the ale Nonchalant as the most popular. Both of them has over 400 check ins on untappd which is rare for many Bosnian beers. The craft beer boom started in 2012 in Bosnia and Gelender brewery in 2014. Gelender means handrail and refers to the balance required to ride it with a snowboard.

The smallest brewery in Sarajevo is probably Shaman Brewery that has three beers so far. It’s difficult to find their beers but they are served at Viking pub. Viking pub offers rock music together with Shaman beer and regional crafts from Serbia and Croatia. No need for a description of the interior design. Vikings + Shamans = …?

Another brewery is Pivara Semizburg that is brewing both beer and other spirits. Semizburg is having their own brand but does also brew for Walter Ego pub 1 and 2. Walter Ego 1 is a bit up the hills but worth a visit.

The Prikaza IPA on 6.7 % is the most popular beer out of the 20 beers they have made since 2018. The main brewer Haris Piknjac was part of the early brewing society in Vietnam 2012 and has been one of few home brewers in Pakistan before returning to Bosnia. Bosnias population is on a steady decline with the exodus of young people. But the outflow is slowing down and there is also many entrepreneurs that return with new inputs.

Gorstak craft brewery has around 10 different ales, IPAs and a hoppy wheat. The brewery in Laktasi is far away from Sarajevo but their beers are sold on bottle at many bars around the country. They define themselves as a nano brewery but most of the breweries in Bosnia would be considered nano. Most of them brew about 100 liters at a time and some less. In USA, micro breweries can brew up to 1.7 million liters a year. Which is more than all Bosnian craft breweries together. The definition in Europe is smaller and often referred to batch size with 100 liters batches considered as nano size.

The beer fridge at VOPI with beers from Gorstak and Gelender above

Maybe you visited all places the first night and feel like having some regular lager to start with the day after? Visit Sarajevo Brewery before 4 PM and get a fresh lager or their unfiltered lager, Nefiltrirano on tap. It’s very nice inside and they have some classic dishes that goes very well with the beer. Combine the visit with visiting the old Olympic bobsled track on top of the mountain. The cable car is not far away from the brewery.

Sarajevo Brewery is open office hours and closed on week ends

Mostar

The pearl in Bosnia, surrounded by beautiful mountains and the river Neretva passing under the Starimost bridge. The best thing with Mostar is that sightseeing, history and craft beer comes together as one. You have everything within a few hundred meters radius. Craft Beer Garden Imaimoze is just by the Mostar bridge and Old Town. It’s a must visit ! This is Oldbridz own bar but other local crafts is also served.

Oldbridz Craft Brewery is one of the oldest craft breweries in the region and was established in 2012. The brewer Arslan Mesihovic is producing excellent beers and has so far introduced over 30 different beers. The Marakuja pale ale is the most consumed so far. There is often Croatian craft beers available. There is ten times more craft beers in Croatia but the prices are also 50 % higher so the magic Beer-Money rate is lower.

If someone opens a brewery in Bosnia, the first call will probably be to Imamimoze craft beer garden. You can feel the weight and importance when sipping on a beer from the now oldest craft brewery in Bosnia. The question is who the first one was but a hand full breweries has already also closed down. For example Castrum craft brewery closed down recently after a few years of business.

Mostar has two important beverage producers. The second is Cooltura Pivovara that introduced their first beers in 2016 and has made about 10 beers until today. Their beers are sold on bottle in many bars around the country. When walking around in Mostar. Pub Beer Ti&Ja is a safe card for a good beer menu and lies a 20 minutes walk from Imaimoze craft beer garden.

Banja Luka, Srebrenica and Brcko

Brcko is a small town in northern Bosnia where Laufer craft brewery started in 2018 and has two stouts, a wheat and an ale. VOPI in Sarajevo has their beer and many more.

MCB, Master Craft Brewery in Banja Lukas sells beers on both bottle and in keg. They brew very nice beers and their pale ale is excellent. Which was served together with their IPA at Fabrika in Sarajevo. They have nine beers so far and more is coming. Absolutely a must sip !

Silvertown Brewery is one of the smaller ones but has so far five beers and the blonde ale Pivovica on 9 % is the most popular. The brewery is in Srebrenica but more beers are sold in the Netherlands than local. They have a collaboration with Brouwerij Fierbier in Tilburg, a smaller town in the Netherlands. Their beers are available at Craft Beer Garden Imaimoze in Mostar.

Did i miss something ? send me a message or comment . Hope you will enjoy it as much as i self did in april 2022.

Cheers ! / Jonathan Gharbi de Mare, aka Abu Dhabi Beer Man

http://www.abudhabibeer.com

Posted in Activities and news | Tagged banja luka, Beer travel, craft beer, craft beer in bosnia, craft beer travel, gelender craft brewery, mostar, mostar craft beer, sarajevo beer | 1 Comment

Beer guide to Rabat, Morocco

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Beertraveller

Time for a bit vacation and one popular destination is Morocco. There is no craft beer scene but defenitely a beer scene. Worth visiting ! Rabat is known as the administrativ, calm and sleepy capital of Morocco. Everything seems so quiet but its a very social town and people goes out quite often. There are many vibrant and nice bars as well as a bit shady ones. The regular ones are easy to find but this guide will help you find the hidden ones which took years to find. They are called shady, but not shady as in dangerous or creepy, just relative shady to the usual restaurants people visit. Literally shady, because doors and windows often are black and bars are always, almost always inside since its forbidden to serve alcohol in the public. This is just a sample of bars, not all of them. I used to have “shady pub crawls” in Rabat so this is one possible tour! Visit 2-3 bars in central Rabat and then 2-3 in Agdal.

Terminus is a classic place and one of the most central bars

Just walk 200 meter from the train station in Rabat and you are here. The name Terminus, says it all. Its a destination ! Its on the corner and just like many other bars, there are no google info. So aim for Cafe Terminus which is a roof top cafe in the same building.

The entrance is dark and windows hard to see but look out for any door guarded by a door man and you are sure you are on the right path. After that take a 10 min walk to Dalia or any other bar in the area.

Dalia has live music on week ends and is always crowded. So better visit it before 8 pm. But this is a must visit as well, beer and Moroccan music on week ends – what more can you wish? If you are stressed out and need some jazz and proper dining tables to sit down and meet other foreigners, visit Le Bistrot de Pietri and pay double or tripple for a beer instead of like 15 dirhams at Dalia. Live jazz at week ends attracts an older crowd with more expats and tourists. None of them will be observed at Dalia, even if its just 200 m away. These are two different planets.

Then walk further to the classic bar La Reve ( The dream) . But on the way you can have a quick beer at Yucatan which is about 300 m from Dalia. If you didn’t eat something before, have something at fancy Casa Jose Tapas. Cosy place with good sea food. La Reve and many bars listed here have a limited kitchen! You can continue to many places. Just make up your mind if you want more shady bars or try to meet the others from the tourist bus. More expats frequent nearby Ty Potes which can be fully booked on evenings. For the adventurer, visit one of the most shady bars in town, just outside the medina. Look for this door. Its the entrance to the left. Its a small place but serves Stork beer just perfectly cold. Its very close to Restaurant Zerda which also is interesting to visit. Hat off if you find it and make a visit! This is the place where people come to drink.

Otherwise take a taxi to Agdal, its like 20 dirham away . Ask for Le chill or just the Sitel tower which is nearby. Start with some snack and a cold leffe blonde.

Le chill has good music and always cold leffe blonde for a good price

This is Le Chill which has Leffe served in proper glasses! The door is black and there are no windows so can be a bit tricky to spot. This is a really good and popular bar where you can eat good and drink. After 8 pm it can be hard to get a table on week ends.

There are plenty of bars in the area and has a younger crowd. If you are a fan of tripadvisor reviews you probably read about Upstairs.

Upstairs is in Agdal which is a good area for a pub crawl

If you want to meet other expats or tourists in Rabat – they will probably be at Upstairs. Goethe 2.0 is also very popular for expats and often full on week ends. But this guide is not for you who want to meet other foreigners. This is for you who are interested in experiencing local culture. But remember its just one part of it. These small bars doesn’t speak for the bigger part, its just one small part of the society that you didn’t expect to experience. Many Moroccan women does not visit these cheap and male dominated bars but more fancy places like, Les Georges, Les Bistrot Pietri and other proper restaurants. Worth mentioning is the hilarious questions on various travel forums where people tells how they brought beer and wine to Morocco because they didn’t believe it existed.

If you are early in Agdal, make a visit to the wine shop Les vignes de Agdal which has a good selection of wines and beers. From le Chill you can walk to Clandestino Bar which is amazingly decorated. Ask for the famous German “Mass” and get one liter of liquid joy. Beer comes with small dishes so give a good tip here. Tipping overall is not expected to be high. But a few dirhams at each place is nice.

After Clandestino you can head to Rockers, a 5 min walk away if you need some Pantera, Metallica or bon jovi to listen to while having leffe or more of the one liter jug filled with beer. The one and only rock music bar in Rabat. Or Le Saxo, a small bar with good service and many people from the neighbourhood. Le Saxo and Rockers are very close to Les Vignes de Agdal as well as to a few more bars and the trendy Le Georges which is more of a dinner place. But they have some French craft beers so make a quick visit at the bar and ask for IPA. Probably its sold out but worth asking.

Saxon is perfect for a few beers and some snack, close to many other bars and restaurants

Rabat has around 20 small bars like that but also many restaurants with Italian, French and International cuisine. So no need to stay thirsty in Rabat.

Good to know that its still a bit taboo to be spotted in a bar for some people so don’t take pictures unless you are very discrete. At regular restaurants you are more than welcome to take selfies and pictures.

Cheers !

Posted in Beer travel, Uncategorized | Tagged bars in morocco, Bars in Rabat, beer, Beer in Agdal, beer in Rabat, craft beer in Rabat, Rabat | Leave a comment

Craft beer bars & bottle shops in Hanoi

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Beertraveller

Where to sample craft beers in Hanoi? Nowadays it’s easy to find good craft beer in Hanoi and The Bottle Shop will not let you down.

Here are a few bars and a bottle shop with a good selection of local craft beers. Start at Standing Bar Hanoi at 170 Trần Vũ in Ba Đình which has almost 20 taps of beer as well as many craft ciders.

Ibiero Craft beer House at 101 Lang Ha Street, Dong Da Street, 4st Floor, 101 Lang Ha Building Hanoi is good as well as their other two places in Hanoi. There are about 12 beers on tap and many on bottle as well.

The Peachy craft beer pub 87 Hang Dao Street 2nd Floor Hanói. A bit tricky to find but ask for it when you reach the adress.

Even Star Craft Beer Pub. 6/21 Pham Ngoc Thach St Hanoi.

The Bottle Shop Vietnam

The Bottle Shop Vietnam is selling both craft beers as well as local rum and gin and much more. Find both local and imported craft beers here. The Bottle Shop 25B, Ngõ 12 Đạng Thai Mai. It’s close to West lake and many other hop related places. For example Turtle Lake Brewing Co and 7 Bridges Brewing Co The online shop is under construction but will soon be ready at http://www.thebottleshop.vn/.

*The Bottle Shop in Hanoi – cold craft beer to bring home or sample directly*

There is so much locally produced craft beers and craft spirits that you could spend weeks just visiting and sampling good craft beverages, no time for anything else. In 2014 there was about 50 microbreweries all over Vietnam making Czech and German styled beers. Today there is so much more. Read more in this article from Vietcetera from august 2021 about the craft beer scene.

Cheers !

Posted in Activities and news | Tagged beer guide vietnam, beer hanoi, beer in vietnam, craft beer hanoi, craft beer vietnam, The Bottle shop Vietnam | 1 Comment

Homie Brewhouse in Hanoi

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Beertraveller

Many craft brewers are foreigners or educated abroad. Craft beer came in 2015 and now it´s harvest time for the self learnt Vietnamese brewers. Thanh at Homie Brewhouse is one of them.

Homie Brewhouse

Thanh started to brew at home a few years ago and in October 2016 he opened Homie Brewhouse together with his wife. There has been many late nights and early mornings with long brewing sessions before he started to develop recipes to for the brewery. It seems that the beer is taking their relation to a new level and we can hope their children will be brewers as well. Craft Beer in Hanoi

Homie Brewhouse is a small nano brewery with a capacity of 250 liter. So far they have four beers; Hanoi IPA, AK Pale Ale, T’nT Triple and Cam Wit. Beers are sold at Beer temple Hanoi which is a old beer establishment in town. On the beer app, untappd.com all beer together has less than 50 check ins. So its small and new!

Beers are served at a few places in Hanoi, both in bottle and keg.

Homie brewhouse delivering beers to the Beer Temple where you can find a good selection of classic Belgian beers and more. See what they have online at beertemple.net.

craft beer in Hanoi

Posted in Activities and news, craft beer vietnam | Tagged beer, beer guide vietnam, beer hanoi, beer in vietnam, breweries in hanoi, craft beer hanoi, craft beer vietnam | 2 Comments

Turtle Lake Brewing Co – new Brewpub in Hanoi

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Beertraveller

The new brewpub in Hanoi; Turtle Lake Brewing Company is stating the fact that the thirst for craft beer in Hanoi is as unstoppable as noodles in the night.

Turtle Lake Brewing Co in Hanoi

There was a big wave in 2016 with several new craft breweries in Vietnam and in 2017 the focus became to develop the beer scene. One of the big beer news Hanoi 2017 was the opening of this 20-tap brewpub in downtown Hanoi. With a wide and changing number of own beers together with crafts from all over Vietnam, this lakeside brewpub is the perfect spot for beer in the sunset. In February, the guest beers came from 7 Bridges (Danang) , Pasteur Street Brewing and East West Brewing Company from HCMC.

Turtle Lake Brewing is founded by four people; Lamont Wynn, Mick Francis, Roshan De Vass and Keith Thibert, the later who is also running the Moose and the Roo in Hanoi. The Head Brewer Khalid Kyler is running the small scale brewery, which is visible from the table. They hope that they and other breweries together will make Hanois beer scene as good as the one in Ho Chi Minh City. Turtle Lake Brewing does also value corporate social responsibility and will later on tell us more about their community work.

Turtle Lake Brewing Company

Right now the following own beers were on tap: 1. Helmet Boy Saison 5.7% ABV 11 IBU citrus and spice with orange peel, coriander and ginger. 2. Tet Imperial Red with komquat- 8% ABV 23 IBU. 3. Ho Tay VPA ( Vietnamese Pale Ale) 5.6% ABV 22 IBU pine forward and full bodied with Amarillo, Citra and Saarz hops. 4. Hoppy Lager 4.2% ABV 14 IBU Malty and light. 5. Turtle Lake Red Ale 6.1 % ABV 10 IBU Malty with hints of dark fruits. 6. Cold Blooded Triple Rye IPA 9% ABV 51 IBU. 7. 2 & 0 Stout 5.5% ABV 21IBU.

More Breweries to be displayed

The coming month will also display more about Te Te Craft beer, Barett and Thomas Brewery and Homie Brewhouse. Later on in April, they will all be listed in the Complete Beer Guide to Vietnam with 20 craft breweries and more than 40 local micros. The publishing of the book Beer Guide to Vietnam by Jonathan Gharbi will be followed by a updated edition in end of 2018.

Posted in Activities and news, craft beer vietnam | Tagged beer in vietnam, craft beer hanoi, craft beer vietnam, turtle lake brewing company | Leave a comment

Happy new Beer 2017

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Beertraveller

It was great to see Furbrew, Barret Craft Brewery and 7 Bridges Brewery open in Hanoi while East West Brewing Co, BiaCraft, Pasteur Street Brewing, Platinum, and Lac Brewing opened in Ho Chi Minh City before new years eve 2016.

barret craft brewery.jpg Barret Craft Brewery has a new and modern beer system (photo by Barret craft brewery)

Is there only newcomers in Vietnam?

Yes, this is the place to be for entrepreneurs and adventureus brewers. The market is booming and changing rapidly. Platinum and Pasteur Street Brewing started in 2015 and are now the old ones. Germans with their 500-year-old-breweries will off course disagree with the term old. There are many new tap rooms and craft beers in Ho Chi Minh City while its moving a bit slower in Hanoi. The next thing to happen is to see a craft brewery open up somewhere between theese two cities. Maybe Mui Ne with lots of beer places and already has one of Hoa Viens microbreweries or Da Nang / Hoi An which is a popular tourist destination for both domestic and international tourism. There are also new beer importers and breweries such as Bach Brewing from New Zealand are selling their craft beer in Vietnam.

east west brewing co.jpg Picture by East West Brewing Co. from January 2017

Furbrew in Hanoi

There are a few big breweries in Ho Chi Minh City and many craft beers to sample. Which brewery will be the most exciting one in Hanoi during 2017 is the question. Maybe this one?Furbrew will make 25-40 beers in 2017 (picture by Furbrew)

Furbrew made about 25 different beers in 2016 and are planning to make 25-40 different beers in 2017. With Danish Brewer Thomas Bilgram behind the brew kettel, we can be surethat there will be both experiments and good continuity for the more frequent beers they offer.

The Hanoi Beer Critic

How can i get a grip on all new beers? Well read the latest beer reviews and follow George Schiefer and his beer reviews at Hanoi Beer Critic to get inspiration what to order next. Detailed check-ins with pictures and thoughts from each beer.

Posted in Activities and news | 3 Comments

Saigon craft beer festival in Vietnam

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Beertraveller

Saigon craft beer festival 27 august 2016

outcast saigon craft beer festival 2016

In 2013 there were no craft breweries in Vietnam. Just a few home brewers making craft beer for friends and smaller occasions. Today there are craft beer festivals and the boom has started and it´s going fast. The craft beer festival is arranged by Saigon Outcast and will take place in Ho Chi Minh City 27 August 2016. Following craft breweries are attending the fetsival; 3 On a Bike, Phat Roosters, Lac Brewing, Fuzzy Logic, Platinum and Pasteur Street Brewing Company. All of them are active in Saigon on places such as Rogue Saigon, Quan Ut Ut, Bia Craft (soon opening a new bar with 30 taps) and Malt.

East West Brewing Company

Opening in November at 181 – 185 Ly Tu Trong Street in District 1 East West Brewing Company will contribute to the Craft beer boom in Saigon.Their Head Brewer, Sean Thommen brings with him 10 years of Brewing professionally in Portland, Oregon. Portland is regarded as One of the top Cities for craft beer in the US. Brewing equipment will also be visible like at Hoa Vien Brauhaus and Goldmalts microbreweries. East West Brewing Co is a American Style Craft Brewery & Restaurant and their beers will be available both on bottle and tap.

American-Style craft beers, traditional German and Belgian beers will also be brewed by EWBC

New Craft beer pub in Hanoi

Still there is a difference between the two cities. While craft beer is booming in Saigon, it has just started in Hanoi. Hanoi has also a different beer culture with more Bia Hoi and about 20 microbreweries making Czech and German lagers. Craft beer pub at 26 Hang Buom opened recently in the middle of the Old Quarter and will be the place where you can get both regular lagers and craft beer on tap for a very resonable price.

Craft beer Pub Hanoi opened in 2016, has eight taps and a good selection of bottled beers

Craft beer Pub is not only a place for beer; late night partys on weekends and different DJ:s will make it a good spot for late summer evenings.

Posted in Activities and news | Tagged beer festival in Vietnam, beer in vietnam, craft beer festival, craft beer hanoi, craft beer Saigon, craft beer vietnam | 3 Comments

New beers & breweries in Vietnam 2016

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Beertraveller

This year will be very exciting for beer lovers in Vietnam. The first craft brewery Pasteur Street Brewing and the first brewery making ale, Platinum beer did open in 2015. The concept with tap rooms and bars selling craft beers is also introduced to the beer loving people in Vietnam. One good example is BiaCraft Artisan Ales that opened in august 2016 in Ho Chi Minh City, offering their own brewed craft beer with guest taps and imported craft beer on bottle. Bia craft are currently serving five of their own beers on tap; Đừng Chọc Tao Pale Ale, Lùn Mà Láo Blonde Ale, Xấu Mà Chảnh IPA, Biết Chết Liến Double IPA and Ngu Mà Lí Amber Ale.

Czech styled beer brewed and served at one of 45 microbreweries in Vietnam

Vietnam in a global context. The question is if the local crowds demand for craft beer will rise fast like in Russia, where new breweries and tap bars are opening almost every month or a more moderate increase like in Germany. In Germany traditions come before curiosity and in most craft beer bars you will meet a lot of other nationalities than German. While Russian craft beer bars are dominated by Russians going nuts on all craft beer they can try. The beer industry is taken by surprise when Russia sailed up as a much more progessive nation compared with Germany when it comes to craft beer. What will happen in Vietnam? As it is right now, the beer market is moving very slowly when it comes to variety despite the massive volumes of beer beeing consumed.

Craft beer is exploding in Russia, a few years ago it was non-existing. Now most breweries covers a wide range of styles and tap rooms can be found at more than 40 places in Moscow.

Craft beer and local microbreweries in Vietnam

Many breweries will open in 2016 in Vietnam but is it the traditional Czech and German styled breweries or craft breweries that will attract the new beer consumers. The Bia Hoi beer and bottled lagers got widely distributed during the 1950s in Vietnam. When the communism collapsed in Europe, the Vietnamese that returned home from East Germany and Czechoslovakia in the 1990s brought with them recepies and technology. That’s why there are about 45 Czech and German styled microbreweries in Vietnam. People can relate to German and Czech culture, which you can understand with all Czech and German motives surrounding the beer halls.

The year of the horse, 2014 was the year of change in Vietnam. Home brewers and beer consumers was ready for a renewal. The phenomenon with beer clubs, attracting the younger crowd became widely popular and importers started to look at other beer nations than Belgium. The first craft brewery opened in 2015 by american expats and a few places started to sell craft beer despite it was five times more expensive than a local beer.

The three main microbrew chains in Vietnam are Goldmalt and Hoa Vien Brauhaus with Czech beer and Legend beer with German. Some of their brew pubs are more like franchised and not part of the chain. Goldmalt have small breweries are building their own brewery systems and has recently installed a microbrewery in Japan. Legend beer have a handfull of places and have a central distribution. Hoa Vien is the only importer of pilsner urquell on keg and has put much effort on design and decoartion of their beer halls.

Legend Beer, Long Bien, Hanoi

Long Bien is situated on the other side of the Red river if you are in Hanoi city. Take a cab or local bus to the Aeon shopping mall at Co Linh street, about 20 minutes from Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. This has a similar style as Legend beer in My Dinh in Hanoi with modern and fresh design.

Legend beer has five places in Hanoi. Not all of them brewing on site. The oldest one at 4 Vu Ngoc Phan in Hanoi has a huge beer hall with the brewery inside.

Legend beer at 4 vu ngoc phan has been in operation almost 20 years and is crowded on weekends, often with live music.

Goldmalts new spots

Goldmalt has many ongoing projects and a new brewery has opened outside Ho Chi Minh City. Unclear exactly where. There are also rumours that at least one more has opened in central Vietnam. The old Goldmalt, a few hundred meters from the aiport in Ho Chi Minh City has opened again.

Make a fast check-in and have a few beers before taking your flight

Goldmalt Tan Son Nhat is a 10 minute walk from the airport. Address: 2 Bach Dang 2,Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam.

Brewery Nhu Y

Restaurant Nhu Y (means Italian) is not new, but unknown outside Ninh Binh. Ninh Binh is a few hours drive south of Hanoi and is famous for the beautiful landscape. Beer is brewed at the restaurant and the beer style is defined as Czech lager.

Address: Trang An 2, Tan Thanh, Ninh Bình.

As the other local microbreweries, Czech craft beer is brewed accompanied with a extensive menu to be consumed in a big beer hall.

There is also another brewery in Ninh Binh. Vissai Brewery has two beers on tap and was installed in 2015. Vissai has two beers on tap and the brewery is just an arm’s lenght from your table.

Beer brewed at your table

Most craft beer is today consumed by expats in Vietnam, mainly in Ho Chi Minh City. It is understandable when the average monthly salary in Vietnam is 150 US $. A glass of bia hoi costs about 30 cent, a bottled 33 cl Hanoi or Saigon beer costs 1 US $, while a glass with craft beer costs about 4 US $.

Jonathan Gharbi de Mare

Posted in Activities and news | Tagged beer, beer in vietnam, beer prices vietnam, bia craft, craft beer Saigon, craft beer vietnam, goldmalt, microbreweries Vietnam, pasteur street brewing, Travel to vietnam, Vietnamese beer | 1 Comment