For one week a year, a good share of Asia's brewing industry ends up in the same city. Brew Asia, the region's annual conference and trade fair for brewers, is in Ho Chi Minh City this year, at The Adora Center on 28 and 29 October 2026, after Bangkok hosted the 2025 edition. The conference itself is for the trade, but the brewers bring their beer with them, and Saigon's taprooms have built a full week of events around it that anyone can join.
Here is the public side of the week, day by day. Times come from the Brew Asia social calendar and the organisers, and some details were still being finalised, so check each event's own channels before you go.
Tuesday 27 October: launches on Ly Tu Trong
The week opened with bars along Le Thanh Ton and Ly Tu Trong in District 1 welcoming the arriving brewers from 8:30pm. The headline was the Great State Aleworks launch party at Heart of Darkness, debuting Field of Dreams, a rice lager brewed with Vietnamese broken rice and Indian kokum. The promotion ran at the taproom through the week while stock lasted.
Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October: the conference
Brew Asia 2026 ran at The Adora Center in Tan Binh, with keynotes from Mitch Steele of Abita Brewing and Steve Smith-Hay of Edinburgh's Vault City Brewing, and a trade fair of more than 100 suppliers. On Thursday afternoon, the Asia Beer Championship and Asia Cider Championship winners were announced, which is the closest thing the region has to a beer awards night. Hong Kong Beer Company took Champion Beer of Asia; see our Asia Beer Championship 2026 results for all the winners.
Thursday 29 October, late: the Pham Viet Chanh Block Party
After the awards, the Pham Viet Chanh Block Party took over five bars on one street from 9pm, led by Steersman Taproom. Block Party flags marked the bars taking part; it was free to wander and the most open-to-all event of the week.
Friday 30 October: ale trail, brewery visit and a new lager
- The Ho Chi Minh Ale Trail sent drinkers to eight city taprooms for a beer and a sticker at each, with a limited-edition cap for a full card. It finished at Pasteur Street Craft Beer on Le Thanh Ton at 6pm.
- The Heart of Darkness brewery visit left the District 1 taproom by bus at about 2pm for a guided tour, tastings and free-flow cans, back by 6pm. It cost VND 600,000 and needed booking.
- All day at the same taproom, Bo Chup Singapore Lager launched with a Super Session from lunch until late.
- In the evening, the crowd moved across the river to Thao Dien, where Quan Ut Ut hosted an Indian-inspired barbecue night with Delhi's Fort City Brewing.
Saturday 31 October: CraftCon Saigon
The week ended with CraftCon Saigon, Collab Edition at BigBamBoo in An Phu, Thu Duc. Local breweries were paired with counterparts from around the region to brew one-off beers for the festival, so it was the place to try things that weren't poured anywhere else.
Drinking in Saigon the rest of the week
If you're in town for any of this, the city's taprooms are open as usual between events. Our Ho Chi Minh City craft beer bars page has the full list, with opening hours, tap counts and a map. All our upcoming festivals, launches and tap takeovers across Asia are on the events page.