{"id":30335,"date":"2018-10-26T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures?p=30335&preview=true&preview_id=30335"},"modified":"2024-09-18T16:39:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T06:39:13","slug":"best-bia-hoi-in-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/best-bia-hoi-in-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to find the best bia hoi in Vietnam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although Vietnam<\/a> conjures up many images on first mention \u2014 motorcycles whizzing by, the limestone islands of Ha Long Bay, all of the food \u2014 perhaps nothing is more quintessentially \u201ctraveller in Vietnam\u201d than bia hoi.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

To clarify before we even begin, bia hoi is two things. It is both that fresh, local homemade beer found all over Hanoi and other areas of northern Vietnam (bia hoi literally translates to \u201cfresh beer\u201d), and also the roadside restaurants where you sit on those little stools to drink it. It is both the beer and the experience of drinking the beer, all wrapped up into one phrase.<\/span><\/p>\n

EXPLORE VIETNAM ON A SMALL GROUP ADVENTURE WITH INTREPID NOW<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But it all starts with the beer. The big thing to know about it is that unlike most beers you probably drink, which can take up to a month to brew, bia hoi is brewed fresh every single day. A light, golden lager that\u2019s served ice cold with a bit of foam on top, it\u2019s only about 3% alcohol, which makes it as easy to drink as water… which is a little <\/span>too<\/span><\/i> easy, if you know what I mean. <\/span><\/p>\n

It also hardly has any preservatives in it, since it doesn\u2019t need to stay fresh for longer than a day. And due to its quick turnover, bia hoi is also incredibly cheap (about 20 cents a glass, give or take). Yet while that whole fast-beer thing sounds great in theory \u2014 so cheap and fresh, yay! \u2014 the truth is that it can also be kind of ~questionable~ by the time evening rolls around. It\u2019s delivered in kegs to businesses early each morning, so it\u2019s best consumed earlier rather than later, when the chances of it going bad are higher.<\/span><\/p>\n

SUBSCRIBE TO INTREPID\u2019S NEWSLETTER FOR TRAVEL TIPS, COMPETITIONS, GIVEAWAYS & MORE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

So, how did this insanely cheap beer come to be? Like many Vietnamese cultural traditions, it can be traced back to the late 1800s, when the French ruled the country as a colony. They brought beer to Vietnam in the 1890s to try to get the Vietnamese to stop drinking their beloved traditional home-brewed rice wine. But they only built one brewery \u2014 the Hommel Brewery in Hanoi \u2014 which made it very expensive; a limited luxury for the rich and only the rich. However, once Vietnam got its independence in 1954, the Vietnamese renamed the brewery Hanoi Brewery, and from there, bia hoi was born. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"TwoBut the story doesn\u2019t stop there, because it didn\u2019t catch on at first! The locals still loved their rice wine over anything else, and continued to drink it until the government banned home brewing, meaning locals were basically forced to turn to bia hoi as a function of necessity. Yes, leave it to the laws to change the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0WHERE TO FIND THE BEST BANH MI IN VIETNAM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

These days, bia hoi bars are all over the northern parts of the country, but they\u2019re mostly in Hanoi, since that\u2019s where the whole tradition began. And let me tell you: bia hoi bars are a fun time. They get <\/span>rowdy<\/span><\/i>. They don\u2019t have any tables, just stools that usually spill over into the streets, meaning you may have your beer with an exciting side of motorcycle dust. If fume-y dust is not your thing, there\u2019s also lots of street food to choose from, like fried rice, barbecue chicken, and more. But a word of caution: travellers often get sick from eating at bia hoi bars because the food is generally made very quickly and isn\u2019t that sanitary. Try to stick to the bars that are crowded, which means they get the local\u2019s stamp of approval and are likely a little cleaner than the less popular ones. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Or you can just head to the bia hoi bars below. All of them are vetted by Intrepid Travel\u2019s team on the ground in Vietnam, who say that these are the finest ones in all of Hanoi. Cheers! <\/span><\/p>\n

Bia Conner
\n<\/b>Address: Joint section of Nha Hoa and Duong Thanh Str<\/p>\n

Bia Hoi Tong Dan
\n<\/b>Address: 12 Tong Dan Str, Trang Tien<\/p>\n

Bia Hoi Duong Thanh
\n<\/b>Address: 2C Duong Thanh Str, Hoan Kiem<\/p>\n

Bia Hoi Lan Chin
\n<\/b>Address: Many locations across Hanoi<\/p>\n

Sip your way around Vietnam<\/a> on a small group adventure with Intrepid now!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Images by Pat O’Neill.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although Vietnam conjures up many images, perhaps nothing is more quintessentially \u201ctraveller in Vietnam\u201d than bia hoi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16081,"featured_media":30339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[455,1313],"tags":[180,454,246,385,41],"class_list":["post-30335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-guides","tag-asia","tag-beer","tag-hanoi","tag-south-east-asia","tag-vietnam","ipf_region-vietnam"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBia Hoi: Where to Get The Best Fresh Beer in Vietnam | Intrepid Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bia hoi is two things; 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