‘Seal’ of Approval in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Travel Date: August, 2017

On my Craft Beer adventure through Ho Chi Minh City, I had researched a newcomer microbrewery pub named the Winking Seal Beer Co. So new in fact that the establishment only opened the doors to their microbrewery pub in January, 2017.

I took a taxi from my hotel over to Winking Seal. It is located in District 1 and was easy to get to from the center of town.

The ground floor is fairly small and almost intimate. Since it was the afternoon when I arrived, there were only a few other patron sitting and enjoying their beverages.

As I was travelling alone, I picked a seat up at the bar. I asked the server for a flight of their product. She returned with a tray and left me to my own devices.

Soon afterwards, a young guy arrived and introduced himself as one of the owners of Winking Seal. His name, Mark Nerney.

Mark and I had a fun conversation about the growth of the craft beer industry around South East Asia and more specifically, the growth in HCMC. He then introduced a friend of his named Trang, who had just opened up a craft beer gastro pub called Rehab Station. Both thought Rehab Station would make for a fun visit as it had craft beer on tap that were exclusive to the local market.

Mark told me that the week before, there was a Brewer’s Conference in HCMC and that a microbrewery called FURBREW had hosted a brewer’s party on the rooftop garden patio of Winking Seal. More importantly, he told me that all eight taps still had the product online and he welcomed us to head up to the roof and try the product at our leisure.  Well, we did not have to be asked twice! After finishing the Winking Seal craft beer, we headed upstairs.

There were some interesting FURBREW beers to sample. One in particular was called ‘Bai Pho’ beer, as it was made using ingredients from the national soup dish pho. While it sounded like a strange creation, the beverage itself was not unpalatable, though I’m not sure I would have willingly opted for a pint. The same could be said for the ‘Lime Leaf Wheat’, which tasted like a massage room smells. They also had a couple more standouts ‘The Perfect 100’, a fantastic stout on tap. Also, a really enjoyable IPA named ‘Chinook IPA’.

Looking forward to my next visit to Winking Seal.

CHEERS!