World of Beer Craft: Vietnam embraces American culture (via high-end, local brewed beer)

In America, we know Vietnam as a South China Sea nation where we fought and lost a Cold War-era, proxy conflict about communism. But today, Vietnam has become a destination of tourism, business and even beer, known for its beautiful beaches, rolling rivers, Buddhist pagodas and bustling cities like Hanoi (the capital).

Over the last few decades, The Nam has gradually been transforming itself into a more open, more market-oriented country, and it’s now beginning to enjoy the benefits of a steady but slow integration into the global economy. Reforms have included partial privatization of state-owned enterprises, liberalization of the trade and investment regimes and modernization of its financial sector. In fact, the country today is full of expats, some of who are even bringing craft beer culture to Asia. According to an article on Thanh Nien News (one of the leading Vietnamese language dailies), craft beer arrived in Vietnam not long ago and has quickly gained popularity (especially among office workers).

John Reid — a businessman from America who has been living and working in Vietnam for nine years and, now the CEO of Pasteur Street Brewing Company, shared: “At a retail price of VND95,000 per beer, our craft beer falls into the “super premium” segment which was once mostly made up of imported beers.

“Countries around Asia are seeing great growth in the ‘super premium’ segment and by creating a product in this category that is from home for Vietnamese, we feel there will be a great support for our brand as the wealth in Vietnam increases and more consumers are looking for high quality products.”

Well, there you have it: Beer can unite even once-warring cultures. Pasteur Street has been open for the last two years and apparently already won three gold medals and a silver at a craft beer festival in Singapore, using Vietnamese special ingredients such as black pepper from Phu Quoc, passion fruit, jasmine and pure cacao. And while the clientele in this photo all look like white, expat office dudes, the ladies are digging Vietnamese craft beer too. From the article:

What is even more special about craft beer is that they can also satisfy the female customers who enjoy the drinks with moderate alcohol content and elegant fragrance of jasmine.

Well put.