The new black
This is Dai Viet Bia Den. It's the new black beer in town. Den means black, geddit? As far as I know it's also the only locally brewed dark beer available in a can in a supermarket. I found it on the shelves of Citimart supermarket on Hai Ba Trung street in District 1. Dai Viet is the latest local brand to hit Vietnam. I tried the bia vang (light lager) a month or so back and it was OK, but not noticeably different from any of the other numerous domestic beers available. However, I grabbed a can of bia den a week ago to try out. It's good, gently hoppy, not heavy at all. A really pleasant chilled beer. Definitely my beer of choice from now on I reckon. It costs 8,700VD a can. In old world money that's 31 whole new pence. As I remember in the UK 31p wouldn't even buy me the pissiest, crappiest lager at the local offie.
It's not Guinness Stout is it?
Posted by: FatMan Seoul | November 16, 2005 at 10:50 AM
Nope. Not that good. Not that Guinness in a can is good of course. Whassup?
Posted by: pieman | November 16, 2005 at 10:53 AM
31p wouldn't even buy you a soda and lime in the UK, let alone a glass of lager, pissy or otherwise. Woe.
Posted by: Squeezeweasel | November 16, 2005 at 05:04 PM
Gosh I miss LaRue. The cheapest bottle of brew here -- really crappy -- is almost U$2!
Posted by: Robyn | November 17, 2005 at 02:17 AM
Personally, I always stick to Saigon Xanh and hit up Saigon Special when it's around but with a bia den available now, I might be inclined towards that. It's about time Vietnam added a den to their many bia vangs. Cambodia has a decent Stout and I was always surprised it never made it over here. Speaking of bia den, I had pint of it over at the German beer hall on Nguyen Du, just around the corner from Quan An Ngon. Tasty stuff.
Posted by: Mr. NoStarWhere | November 17, 2005 at 02:54 AM
The UK sucks cash in every way and $2 in KL - Ouch. La Rue's alright. Normally buy Halida or 333 though.
Not mad keen on the Saigon range, although I think the green one - xanh - is the best. I don't find the dac biet one that dac biet. It isn't quite as refreshing, dunno quite why.
You've reminded me about that German place. I don't think I ever put the pics on flickr from that. Will do so now. Yes - I think that and the Czech place are the best beers I've tried here. However, I'm hearing BigMan Beer (really!) is the one. Not tried it yet.
Posted by: pieman | November 17, 2005 at 03:13 AM
Here you go:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/noodlepie/tags/nguyendubrauhof/
Posted by: pieman | November 17, 2005 at 03:31 AM
Pieman - I've just started noticing a bit of Dai Viet product and merchandising up here. Is it a brew from down south? Have to admit I haven't put one to my lips yet, light nor dark. Here's a sweeping generalisation for you: up here, Halida seems to be the beer of choice amongst ex-pats, Tiger amongst the tourists and Hanoi with the locals. Can you generalise about the Saigon crowd?
Posted by: Sticky | November 17, 2005 at 10:20 AM
I googled and found very little out about them. The can says Thanh Pho TB - Thanh Binh? It also says "Dai Viet German technology beer" - sounds appetizing. But, I'm a bit clueless about them.
Well Halida is my beer of choice. However, it's very rare in Saigon for some reason. I know of only one supermarket that stocks it occasionally, Big C on To Hien Thanh Street. I think I saw it in Al Fresco's the other week too. Can't remember.
Can't really generalise about Saigon drinking. I would guess Tiger is the main one, as it's draught de rigeur all over town. 333, Saigon Beer, BGI, Bia Larue are the local ones, but I can't remember seeing them draught in any pubs.
There's also San Miguel, Heineken, Carlsberg and maybe one or two others.
Maybe NoStar knows better?
Posted by: pieman | November 17, 2005 at 10:36 AM
Among my group of friends it's Saigon Xanh unless they don't have it and then it's a random choice of Tiger, Carlsberg, or San Miquel, though if you go to Underground or Sheridan's, the Amber is nice.
As for most folks around, I'd say it's Tiger or Heineken but it also depends on your bar. If you pull up to Ng Thai Hoc at 1am, most people are drinking Saigon but you go to bars that are a step up from the plastic chair variety, and I find that Heineken or Tiger. I think Hanoi's drinkers are easier to classify... as you did. That's what I remember anyways. Really though, I always go for Saigon Xanh when in stock and when not, it's just a random choice. But the best drinks in Saigon... Juice. Tuesday/ Wednesday night happy hours... 2 for 1 cocktails. Very tasty.
Posted by: Mr. NoStarWhere | November 18, 2005 at 02:47 AM
Surprised how much praise Halida is getting in this thread. Only tried it once in a Bo 7 Mon resto in Cali. Perhaps they have a problem with export quality control but it tasted like chinese vinegar.
Posted by: Rainman | November 18, 2005 at 06:41 AM
Thanks for the input NoStar - only had cocktails in Juice a couple of times - tres nice. The food is good too. Only reason I haven't blogged it is the light is too dark and the photos all came out a total shitheap.
As for the Halida praise. Well... the thing is before I lived in Asia I NEVER drank lager. OK maybe on a very, very hot day, even then a dry cider would be preferable. But, in Asia it's almost all lager - apart from these dark beers - plus a fab Brit-bitter is absolutely not what you want in the heat of Saigon. Unless you don't get enough sleep.
Posted by: pieman | November 18, 2005 at 07:59 AM