Bia Ha Noi
Habeco (Hanoi Alcohol Beer and Beverage Company)
- From:
- Habeco (Hanoi Alcohol Beer and Beverage Company)
- Vietnam
- Style:
- American Adjunct Lager
Ranked #221 - ABV:
- 4.2%
- Score:
- 69
Ranked #39,381 - Avg:
- 2.77 | pDev: 19.49%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 14
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Sep 14, 2025
- Added:
- Sep 01, 2007
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 13
SCORE
69
Poor
69
Poor
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by DraftMonger from Denmark
2.46/5 rDev -11.2%
look: 2 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
2.46/5 rDev -11.2%
look: 2 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Copenhagen 14/9 2025. 33 cl can from Meny, Borups Allé, Frb. F. A golden and red can with a drawing of the industrious brewery.
Pours clear pale yellow with a small white head. A bit bubbly. Disappears pretty fast leaving only a thin rim of foam running along the side of the glass. No lacing.
Aroma is moderately intense with a sweet odor of malts and rice mingling with a fragrant scent of citrus and grains. Sweet rice and malts, lemongrass and citrus.
Medium strong carbonation. Thin watery, lively and tingling texture.
Flavor is medium intense with a medium strong sweetness followed and balanced by a medium strong sourish bitterness. Aftertaste is sweetish. Lingers shortly. Finish is semi-dry yet watery.
Forgettable sweet rice brew.
Sep 14, 2025Pours clear pale yellow with a small white head. A bit bubbly. Disappears pretty fast leaving only a thin rim of foam running along the side of the glass. No lacing.
Aroma is moderately intense with a sweet odor of malts and rice mingling with a fragrant scent of citrus and grains. Sweet rice and malts, lemongrass and citrus.
Medium strong carbonation. Thin watery, lively and tingling texture.
Flavor is medium intense with a medium strong sweetness followed and balanced by a medium strong sourish bitterness. Aftertaste is sweetish. Lingers shortly. Finish is semi-dry yet watery.
Forgettable sweet rice brew.
Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois
3.22/5 rDev +16.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
3.22/5 rDev +16.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Trying to find a reason to like this and decided the best one is the brew suits their climate and their kitchen. I drank this at a Saigon sisters-type sandwich shop in the Osaka-Shin station after getting back from a 95 degree touring of the Hiroshima Peace Park. Bia Hà Nội finely fit the climate and the kitchen.
Other than that, Bia Hà Nội was slightly below my average rating for an American Adjunct. While it Looked average with an OK foam and a decent pale, Smells and Tastes were equally too sweet. Really requires more hops, even for a malt-head like me. (Brewing with rice can get sweet on you.) A few more bubbles would be better to wash down the food. Light-mouthed.
As for the very good Overall marks I give Habeco, that's for hustle and hutzpah. Their website is a blatant promotional; but it also seems to be working. They harken back to their founding by the French, but also could talk more about the last 50 since the U.S. left Hanoi alone. Anyhow, I'm glad that they kept the brewery going. Now if they could only add to the sum total of brewing in a hot culture.
Jul 28, 2025Other than that, Bia Hà Nội was slightly below my average rating for an American Adjunct. While it Looked average with an OK foam and a decent pale, Smells and Tastes were equally too sweet. Really requires more hops, even for a malt-head like me. (Brewing with rice can get sweet on you.) A few more bubbles would be better to wash down the food. Light-mouthed.
As for the very good Overall marks I give Habeco, that's for hustle and hutzpah. Their website is a blatant promotional; but it also seems to be working. They harken back to their founding by the French, but also could talk more about the last 50 since the U.S. left Hanoi alone. Anyhow, I'm glad that they kept the brewery going. Now if they could only add to the sum total of brewing in a hot culture.
Reviewed by AzfromOz from Australia
3.48/5 rDev +25.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
3.48/5 rDev +25.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
I grabbed this one from Chas Cole Cellarbrations in Geelong in December 2023 and drank it a few weeks later on Christmas Day. I was cooking the hamburgers on the BBQ at the time and so the notes are somewhat brief!
L: Golden yellow, bright white head, heaps of carb.
S: Sweet, biscuity malt
T: Overly sweet, mildly floral and earthy bitterness. Finishes long and sweet.
M: Very light on the carb and prickle, easy to throw back in a hot, humid climate.
O: I can certainly see the appeal in drinking this in Vietnam, but outside that context, it loses its appeal.
Cheers!
#411
Dec 27, 2023L: Golden yellow, bright white head, heaps of carb.
S: Sweet, biscuity malt
T: Overly sweet, mildly floral and earthy bitterness. Finishes long and sweet.
M: Very light on the carb and prickle, easy to throw back in a hot, humid climate.
O: I can certainly see the appeal in drinking this in Vietnam, but outside that context, it loses its appeal.
Cheers!
#411
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway
2.03/5 rDev -26.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
2.03/5 rDev -26.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
March 2020: Rerate, 330 ml can, as Habeco BIA HÀ NỘI, from Green Peas, Stavanger. ABV is 4.6%. Clear pale golden colour, moderate to small white head. Weak aroma, some grassy hints. Bland flavour. Really, really bland. Not quite as much glue and rubber this time. A waste of money though.
Original rating: Shared 330 ml can at local tasting. Pale golden colour. Aroma of glue and rubber. Grain, glue and rubber in the flavour. Bad. Really, really bad.
Nov 02, 2023Original rating: Shared 330 ml can at local tasting. Pale golden colour. Aroma of glue and rubber. Grain, glue and rubber in the flavour. Bad. Really, really bad.
Rated by Dentist666 from Russian Federation
2.99/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
2.99/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
4.6% ABV
Nov 02, 2023
Rated by Radcpa from Washington
1.85/5 rDev -33.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5
1.85/5 rDev -33.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5
Tastes like they added famaldahide
Jan 21, 2019
Rated by spinrsx from Canada (ON)
2/5 rDev -27.8%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
2/5 rDev -27.8%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Can thanks to Ian
Oct 02, 2017
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Texas
2.94/5 rDev +6.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
2.94/5 rDev +6.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
330ml can from a minimart in Hanoi. Cost was around $0.50 USD. 4.60% ABV. Brief impressions below:
Too sweet, with a heavy artificial malt syrup taste and possibly some diacetyl off-flavour. Overcarbonated. Metallic, lightly syrupy, smooth, wet, unrefreshing.
Malt backbone is all cheap pale malts/x-row. No hop flavour whatsoever.
Simple, shallow, imbalanced, badly built.
Drinkable in that it's largely inoffensive. I might revisit it when in the mood to merely get intoxicated with something cheap and insipid, but it has nothing to offer the discerning drinker.
C- (2.62) / BELOW AVERAGE
***
On-draught (delivered today) impression:
The fresh draught version is vastly superior, bringing a blip of a banana ester, a fresher malt presentation, and far more apt carbonation. Absolutely worth trying, especially at its low price. Clean easy drinking with a nice barley backbone and the beginnings of kellerbier-esque unhinged oxidation.
Low B- / WORTHY
Jun 24, 2016Too sweet, with a heavy artificial malt syrup taste and possibly some diacetyl off-flavour. Overcarbonated. Metallic, lightly syrupy, smooth, wet, unrefreshing.
Malt backbone is all cheap pale malts/x-row. No hop flavour whatsoever.
Simple, shallow, imbalanced, badly built.
Drinkable in that it's largely inoffensive. I might revisit it when in the mood to merely get intoxicated with something cheap and insipid, but it has nothing to offer the discerning drinker.
C- (2.62) / BELOW AVERAGE
***
On-draught (delivered today) impression:
The fresh draught version is vastly superior, bringing a blip of a banana ester, a fresher malt presentation, and far more apt carbonation. Absolutely worth trying, especially at its low price. Clean easy drinking with a nice barley backbone and the beginnings of kellerbier-esque unhinged oxidation.
Low B- / WORTHY
Reviewed by Philpop2 from Australia
3.78/5 rDev +36.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.78/5 rDev +36.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The 450ml bottles are the best for whatever reason the cans are nowhere near as tasty as is the smaller 330ml hanoi beer labeled beer which they now disappointingly export. By far the 450ml bia ha noi is Vietnams best beer.
May 14, 2016
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