Bia hoi is Hanoi's fresh draft beer: low-alcohol, unpasteurised, brewed and drunk the same day, served from kegs on plastic stools at pavement corners for around 10,000-15,000 VND a glass.
Bia hoi emerged in the Doi Moi reform era from 1986 onwards, when private brewing took off in Hanoi. Daily-brewed beer with no preservatives or pasteurisation could not be exported or stored, so it became the city's pavement drink. The Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen corner cluster grew through the 1990s and is now the bia hoi crossroads.
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