Bia Ha Noi - Hanoi Beer Company

intoxabroad

British Columbia (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -13.8%

10-08-2012 17:13:57 | More by intoxabroad

randylangford

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev +3.4%

06-13-2013 03:21:40 | More by randylangford

DbbC

Illinois

2.75/5  rDev -5.2%

04-14-2013 18:18:26 | More by DbbC

tbeckett

Ontario (Canada)

2.41/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 2 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.25

Can from Circle K in Ho Chi Minh.

A - Pours light golden with a one finger loose white head gone fast. Bright and decent carbonation. No lace and no retention.

S - Light honey, a little herbal, sweet grain.

T - Grainy, sweet malt, some honey, dusty, dry grain.

M - Good carbonation, light to medium body, clean and slightly dry finish.

O/D - Decent lager. Inoffensive and clean with nothing to wimper about. Just nothing out of the box or interesting. Not bad for the style, but a little rough around the edges as well.

Serving type: can

03-12-2013 14:53:08 | More by tbeckett

sumpjh

California

3.5/5  rDev +20.7%

01-03-2013 14:32:25 | More by sumpjh

JKAllen

3.75/5  rDev +29.3%

12-24-2012 18:14:33 | More by JKAllen

CrazyDavros

Australia

1.78/5  rDev -38.6%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Pours gold with a quickly fading head.
Soapy notes in the aroma along with an overtly sweet doughy character.
Sweet flavours too with more doughy notes and maybe a hint of honey.
Watery body. Too much carbonation.
That doughy character seems weird, almost like it was fermented with bakers yeast...

Serving type: can

11-25-2012 06:25:13 | More by CrazyDavros

NickyG213

Arizona

2.75/5  rDev -5.2%

08-31-2012 22:20:57 | More by NickyG213

sd123

California

2.5/5  rDev -13.8%

06-01-2012 10:09:08 | More by sd123

Rlombardi75

Ontario (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -13.8%

01-18-2012 04:55:25 | More by Rlombardi75

BeerHERE2010

New York

2.53/5  rDev -12.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

This review comes via the open door sharing policy that predominates the craft beer community. Availble, on a 'gift horse' basis by virtue of someone recently back from Asia and 'packing' Cambodian and Vietnamese brews.


It's a 'grassy' rice based lager. Better than 'green' San Miguels & 'short' of Asahi or Kirin (less the radiation).

'Nothing to write home about here', just another 'back yard' lager made in another back yard half way around the world , where, 4 decades ago I was turning circles off the DMZ on an LPH.

That's the (back) 'story', 40y down the road, after being literally AT each others throats, Hanoi v NY, now I'm critiquing a wk old Vietnamese rice lager > eg pouring relatively 'fresh' rice lager DOWN my throat.

This is better. (Tho, for my wants/needs; still just a 2.3-ish beer

Serving type: can

10-23-2011 06:40:32 | More by BeerHERE2010

bat6

District of Columbia

3.78/5  rDev +30.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

currently traveling through SE Asia and sampling the local offerings. this is fairly popular in Vietnam but I haven't seen it elsewhere. beers in this region are almost entirely light-bodied lagers meant for fast quaffing in the blazing heat and humidity. all ratings are based on my understanding of the style here. this beer is incorrectly categorized as "american adjunct lager"

A - bottle marked w/ a freshness date: this one's 22 days old. poured into a pilsner glass. very pale gold, not much darker than champagne. soapy, beautiful tight-bubbled head that slowly breaks down (though not before I knock the beer back and order another). tiny bubbles rise endlessly from the bottom of the glass

S - virtually no smell like most of this style- perhaps a little grainy

T - very, VERY clean. like most beers of the style, leans towards a hint of biscuity pale malt sweetness w/ virtually no distinguishable hop presence. i've learned to judge the flavor profile of these beers more after they've warmed up a bit, this does not gain any slick corny sweetness or sour notes

MF - crisp, light, nice carbonation w/out being overwhelming

O - really loved this low-ABV quaffer. I got it in a 450 ml bottle and knocked it back right quick, then savored the second w/ food and picked up some of the more "delicate" flavor profiles going on. this beer isn't for over-analyzing, it's for a refreshing finish to a long hot day or pairing w/ spicy food. this one's a keeper for sure, i've now had it number of times and loved every swallow

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2011 13:00:07 | More by bat6

bgildea

Virginia

3.35/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Got this beer from my brother and his escapades throughout southeast asia.

A: Pours a nice yellow color with a slight white head that fades quickly and leaves a little bit of lacing.

S: Decent fruity smell typical of american adjunct lagers and rice based beers.

T: The beer has a fruity sweet taste to it that almost tastes like a cross between malt liquor and rice beer.

M: The beer maintains a decent amount of carbonation while drinking it. Not necessarily the best quality, but probably needed it to get safely to the states.

O: The beer is a fairly standard rice beer/american adjunct lager. I found the flavor and smell to be slightly above average but the beers constant carbonation was its biggest downside.

Serving type: can

06-02-2011 00:50:38 | More by bgildea

basica

Singapore

2.88/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a clear gold color topped with a thick rocky head with medium retention and lively effervescence (3.5)

S - Yeasty astringency with a light malt backing. (2)

T - Yeasty and woody tastes upfront followed by light maltiness and slight grassiness in the middle. The finish comes in with a nice malty aftertaste. (3)

M - Light bodied, largely watery with a tad of carbonation bite (2.5)

D - Easy drinking lager; light and balanced and very approachable compared to other more known mass lagers (3.5)

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2010 08:54:02 | More by basica

AKBelgianBeast

Alaska

3.58/5  rDev +23.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

had while in Vietnam in 2005

Pours macro.

Nose is macro with a little creamy oddness to it, reminds me of vanilla tootsie roll candy.

Taste follows with mostly macro but an odd creaminess. corn and cheap grain with minimal hop presence. The only thing uniqe is this wierd sweet kind of earth soil flavor.

Mouthfeel is macro.

Drinkability is ok, but the odd creaminess sort of hampers it a bit, but for all intensive purposes, this is a macro. haha.

Overall, a nice change of pace from the usual tiger or carlsberg, but, yeah, well, yeah...

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2009 08:01:38 | More by AKBelgianBeast

shivtim

Georgia

2.78/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 1.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Had this while visiting Vietnam. It's served with ice cubes in restaurants! Weird.
Anyway, it's a clearish brew, pale straw in color, with a very slight white head. Nose is yeast, wheat, and mild rice. Taste is a bit more interesting than expected. It's got some sweet grain, yeasts, slight hops on the end, and a bit of a wet earthy flavor mixed with spiciness. Mild but more complex than most lagers of the region. Mouthfeel is not too bad, drinkability is average. Worth a shot if you're in Vietnam.

Serving type: can

09-01-2007 16:46:49 | More by shivtim