During our recent trip to Vietnam, we had the opportunity to try a variety of different beers. Most of them were lagers that were brewed in different cities throughout Vietnam. There were also several pubs in Hanoi that served locally brewed craft beers. While beer was readily available and relatively inexpensive every place that we visited, wine was pretty expensive. We assume that it most likely due to the fact that Vietnam doesn’t produce much of its own wine. We only spent a couple of days in Laos, but we did have the opportunity to try several of their national beers during our time there as well.
Vietnam and especially Laos are very hot countries, so after a long day of exploring the country, having a nice cold beer is a nice way to help cool off. It was so hot in Vientiane, Laos that they actually served the beer with ice to actually put into your glass of beer because it would get warm before you could finish it. Even at night, the temperatures are still very warm and beer certainly paired well with most of the meals that we ate during our trip.
Each city in Vietnam seemed to have its own brand of beer while Laos had a national brand of beer that was offered in a variety of styles including dark, amber, and lager. Most of the beers that we tried were not particularly hoppy or malty and were relatively mild. The mild flavor adds to the refreshing nature of drinking an ice cold beer. We definitely enjoyed the variety of beers that we tried throughout our time in the region.