WORK IN PROGRESS 5/2026
January / February 2024
Mick J Allen
This article first appeared in Draught Copy magazine No.211 Winter 2025/26, the newsletter of the CAMRA Maidstone and Mid-Kent branch. It is felt that it is of such importance it should not be lost. It is reproduced with the Editor’s permission.
Carrying on from my article on Cambodia in Draught Copy 209 (19-22/1/2024), the next visit on the list was to Ho Chi Minh City. That involved a transfer of bus at the Cambodia / Vietnam border, and a walk over the frontier, involving the normal ‘why are you here, where are you staying etc, etc questioning. Renamed from Saigon in 1976, HCMC is home to an Ale Trail, a route taking in nine (was ten) craft beer outlets. When you have got a sticker in your beer passport in each, you can claim a free t-shirt. Beers were around the £4.50 to £6.00 price per pint range, depending on abv. Note - Google Maps is your friend, the map I have provided shows just the rough locations.
After getting our passport stamped, it was a twenty minute amble to 7 Bridges Taproom (B) (15B/12 Le Thanh Ton) for a Migrating Coconuts 6.0%. From the brewery in Da Nang, they supply four taprooms, plus many other outlets throughout Vietnam.
Next it was a short walk to on to Pasteur Street (C) (26A Le Thanh Ton). This was a different venue to the one mentioned in the Ale Trail, but, nonetheless stamped our booklets. At a guess, I would say that all of the Pasteur Street venues would give you a stamp (and there are five others to choose from in HCMC).
A quick taxi journey then took us for our fourth stamp, to Steersman Taproom (D) (18 Phan Ke Binh). The beer of choice in here was Dark Horse Brown Ale 5.5%, along with a clean-up wipe, if you needed it, for the princely sum of GBP 0.01p.
Hoprizen Craft Beer (E) (16/18 Vo Thi Sau) was next on the list for our fifth stamp, although at the time of writing this article (July ’24) appeared to have shut up shop and closed and been removed from the Ale Trail list.
Deme Brewing (F) (393/7 Hai Ba Trung) was our final stamp of the day. It was certainly a challenge to find this one, but, thanks to our fellow ale-trailer, and Vietnamese speaker, Anna, it was found to be on the fourth floor, with no signposting on the street at all. Only a couple of Deme ales on in here, so I had the Hoi Hoi Session IPA 4.2%.
Deme Brewing was not to be the last bar of the night, however, as we had heard on the grapevine of a new opening. 7 Bridges Taproom (G) (38 Dong Du) was a new addition to complement the existing bar. The beer in here was a Fire Eater Stout 7.3%, the roasted chilli peppers making it an ideal nightcap.
Our penultimate day in HCMC started with a visit to Belgo Belgian Craft Beer (H) (29/31 Ton That Thiep). There are three other venues dotted around HCMC, but none of them are in quite such an historic building, that was once used as a guest house for the temple opposite. After a sampling of their Cherry Beer 3.5%, Bia Craft (I) (1 Le Ngo Cat) was next, a short taxi ride away.
Out of the forty taps in here, I chose the No Cookie No Nookie Oreo Stout 5.0% to get the third to last stamp.
For our penultimate Ale Trail stamp, the Rooster Beer Taproom (J) (40 Bui Vien), started in 2015, was reached by taxi. We’d actually tried to get a beer in here on our first night in HCMC, but failed, as it was too late. However, this time, Roosters Pale 5.0% and IPA 6.5% were the beer choices. The brewery began back in 2016, on a small scale, but moved to its current premises on the Kizuna Industrial zone, a few miles out of HCMC, in 2019.
So, it was finally time for our last stamp, and to collect our prizes. A ten minute walk away was East West Brewing (K) (181/185 Ly Tu Trong). The brewery is overseen by Patrick Barnes, from Portland, Oregon, who was the former innovation brewer at Sierra Nevada Brewery. It was a good feeling to get our final Passport stamps, and walk away with a t-shirt. Fittingly enough, this bar is the only one on the Ale Trail with an in-house brewery, and it was finished off with a Triple IPA 10.0%.
Fortunately for us, we still had a day left in HCMC, and we’d found another four craft beer venues that were not part of the Ale Trail, and the next afternoon we set about finding these.
After a morning visit to the Vietnam War Ben Dinh Tunnels, and a visit up Landmark 81, the tallest building in Vietnam, it was time to seek out Tram Beer Craft & Coffee (L) (59/15B Pham Viet Chánh). This little gem was located up a side alley, and didn’t appear open at first, but the lady from next door gave the owner, Nghia, a shout and he duly came out to open up the premises. A rather strong Cream Ale 6.0% was served, all of the beers being brewed in the back room on a tiny plant.
A taxi ride back into town then took us to MixTape Drinks (M) (40 Dang Thi Nhu, first floor), where we sat on the balcony overlooking life go by. A recent opening, all the beers are brewed in District 7, to the south of HCMC. I also had an enjoyable beer chat with one of the owners, Khanh, over a Mixtape Peaches & Cream 6.9%.
Our penultimate bar in HCMC was Reham Saigon Taproom (N) (165/41 Nguyen Thai Binh). Six beers were on in here, all from the brewery of the same name, located in Bao Loc, midway between HCMC and Dalat, which was our destination the next morning. Bia Den (Dark Beer) 5.0% was the choice in here. There’s also a ‘spin the wheel’ outside the bar giving various freebies if you land on the correct space.
Our final pub in HCMC was close by, Rogue Saigon (O) (13 Pasteur). Another rooftop bar, sixteen taps served a variety of different brewers’ beers, I finished on a Pasteur Street Jasmine IPA 6.5%. To sum up, HCMC has some marvellous bars, beers, and sights. Oh, and warm weather into the mix, as well!