Dihydrogen Sulfide in Beer Land!

We sold the beer in kegs out of the tap room on Do Quang Dau at first and quickly expanded from there. Mike's western home-brew buddies had opened a franchise of BBQ restaurants that we supplied as well. We contract brewed several of their core brands for them in addition to some specialty selections that they brewed themselves in the city.

Their beers were named for tongue in cheek Vietnamese expressions that translated to phrases like, “Don't F*ck with Me Pale Ale” and my favorite, “F*cking Liar Summer Ale.”

Their BBQ restaurants were very successful. They catered to the Vietnamese trend to eat “family style” where large plates of food are put on the table, and everyone shares. They served a mostly western menu with pulled pork and brisket and sides like creamed spinach and macaroni and cheese. One of the owners made sausages and those were fantastic. They also made fried chicken skin nachos, which I ate frequently.

There was another little spot around the corner from the tap room that sold our beer as well. It was a little Mexican restaurant called Sanchos which was owned by a fella named Calvin. First generation raised in California, as an adult Calvin decided to move back to Vietnam to live and work.

Calvin was lovely to be around. He was American enough that he reminded me of home, yet he was Vietnamese also, so he provided good insight that helped me with the cultural adjusting. I spent a lot of time on Sanchos patio. Sanchos served tacos, burritos and margaritas and eventually, my beers as well.

Most bars and restaurants in Vietnam don't have draft systems the way we do here in America. Because everything is smaller and usually more temporary, that kind of infrastructure investment isn't made when constructing a bar or restaurant. As a result, most places sold beer exclusively in cans or bottles. Canning and bottling were not so available on the small scale yet in the newly emerging craft beer scene there, so there was a real problem there. How do we sell draft beer to accounts that don't have draft systems?

The answer was to provide the equipment. We did this a couple different ways. For a few places, like Sanchos, a kegerator was built and installed. For other accounts, chilling units were provided. These units held the keg at room temperature and ran the beer through refrigerated lines on its way out of the tap. From a quality standpoint, this definitely left something to be desired, however we were establishing an industry. Sometimes this is what one needs to do.

Not only did we need to provide the equipment, but we also needed to teach the people how to use it. Draft systems require a bit of knowledge to get the perfect pour. There is definitely physics involved with the gas pressures and liquid temperatures. I knew this would be a challenge. I made detailed, laminated trouble shooting information sheets in both English and Vietnamese (with pictures!)

On one occasion, I was flown to a fancy resort because the beer wasn't pouring. Did you consult the troubleshooting chart, I asked. Of course we did, I was told. After arriving at the resort and simply changing the keg, they were back in business. Moments like these happened and became opportunities to connect with the folks enjoying and serving the beers.

In Vietnam, contracts and agreements are handled differently. This is where I learned that there are more than one type of keg coupler. In America, I had only ever seen the Sanke or D type coupler be used so I never really considered the fact that there were other types. You might see a corny keg from time to time but those aren't meant for beer and aren't seen as professional.

Also in Vietnam, I saw all the coupler types. In order to ensure that your equipment sold only your products, it was best to make it as proprietary as you could, in a country very little legislation on the subject. As a result, different breweries used different coupler types.

For the most part, the small group of newly opened craft breweries in Vietnam were friendly. But you really couldn't trust anything to go “as planned” in a general sense. There are just too many cogs in the communication wheels to ensure that things would. People definitely had opinions about other people's products and processes but much like America, we shared information and sources. There were beer festivals and events frequently and they were fun because each brewery had their own identity. We prided ourselves on being “every man's beer!” Not overwhelmingly fancy, but well-made and affordable. There were other breweries that had a more boutique style, upper class brands and a handful of places just making what they pleased.

The idea of craft beer was new to the Vietnamese culture, and I was often asked to explain if it was craft beer or draft beer and what the differences were. That always made me laugh. It's raft beer! Ha! I would explain how in America, the definition of craft beer involves how much beer your brewery produces and where the ownership percentages lie. But those things don't really apply in Vietnam. There was no legal definition for craft beer in Vietnam the way there are in other localities around the world.