If Hanoi is the city of bia hoi (draft beer at 60 yen a glass), then Ho Chi Minh City is the city of craft beer. American and Vietnamese brewers launched breweries one after another in the 2010s, and it's now called one of Southeast Asia's leading craft beer cities.
In this article, having verified them against actual Google Maps ratings, we present a curated pick of brewery taprooms worth visiting in Ho Chi Minh City. How to work through each area, andCraft beer in Hanoiand even the differences from it, put together in a form you can use directly to plan your trip.
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Why Ho Chi Minh City is the "craft beer capital of Southeast Asia"
Vietnamese beer was long dominated by lagers from major local makers like Saigon and 333. Among the early movers serving its own house-brewed draft was Hoa Viên, a Czech-style brauhaus. And what accelerated the whole trend at once were the breweries that sprang up one after another in Ho Chi Minh City in the mid-2010s.
The decisive factor was ingredients unique to Vietnam. Combining local ingredients like passion fruit, jackfruit, coffee, lemongrass, and lotus with hops, brewers put forward flavors you can drink only here.
Built around American-born styles, brewers of many nationalities (Pasteur Street was founded by an American, East West by the Vietnamese Loc Truong) entered with serious equipment
Praised for locally rooted recipes using Vietnamese tropical fruit and spices
Centered on Lý Tự Trọng Street (District 1), breweries and taprooms gather within walking distance, making it easy to sample and compare
How did craft take root in the lager-centric south? At its foundation lies a beer culture represented by Saigon beer,Vietnam's beer culturehas a depth all its own.
Vietnamese craft beer styles worth knowing first
The fun of Vietnamese craft beer lies in how, rather than simply copying Western styles, brewers shape them into "flavors you'll find nowhere else" using local ingredients. Knowing the representative styles before you order makes choosing easier.
Style
Characteristics and ingredients used
Representative examples
Jasmine IPA
A floral-scented IPA with restrained bitterness
Pasteur Street's signature
Fruit ales
The tartness and sweetness of passion fruit and dragon fruit. Light and easy to drink
Passionfruit Wheat Ale
Coffee/cacao stout
A rich dark beer accented with Vietnamese coffee and cacao
Cyclo Imperial Chocolate Stout
Herbal blonde / ale
With herbs like lemongrass, it's light enough to drink even on a hot day
Seasonal limited releases from each brewery, and more
Pilsner / dark lager
A Czech-style maltiness. Restrained hops, enjoyed for its body
Hoa Viên
Sour ale
An experimental, sour-forward brew. Often small-batch only
Heart of Darkness and others
If you're unsure, start with a Jasmine IPA or a fruity ale. Their Vietnamese character is the easiest to grasp, and they're an easy way in even if it's your first craft beer.
The brewery-run taprooms to hit first
If craft beer is new to you, we recommend heading first to a brewery's own taproom. There you can taste the brewery's flagship beer just as the maker intended.
Pasteur Street Brewing ── synonymous with Ho Chi Minh City
Founded in 2015. With recipes that pair American brewing know-how with Vietnamese ingredients, it has won numerous international awards, and it's the name that comes up when you talk about craft beer in Ho Chi Minh City. It has created more than 200 beers to date and supplies restaurants across the country.
The flagships are these three. Even if craft is new to you, drinking these three gives you a feel for the range of Vietnamese craft.
Jasmine IPA: An aromatic IPA infused with jasmine flowers
Passionfruit Wheat Ale：A wheat ale lifted by the sweet-tartness of passion fruit
Cyclo Imperial Chocolate Stout: A rich 13% ABV chocolate stout. Savor it slowly in small amounts
Rating: ★4.8 / 4,784 reviews (flagship, as of July 2026)
Flagship: 144/3 Pasteur, District 1 (a hideaway tucked at the end of an alley)
Several locations in the city. You can also drink it at the taprooms in Metropole and Sala (District 2)
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In my third year living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I launched this specialist Vietnam travel information site hoping to share local knowledge you simply can’t get by visiting as a tourist — the kind of thing you only understand by being here.
