Heart of Darkness Brewery

Heart of Darkness was founded in Ho Chi Minh City in 2016 by John Pemberton and partners, and takes its name from the Joseph Conrad novella. It brews at its own brewery in Vietnam, where it also contract brews for more than 30 other beer brands across Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and beyond. The brewery has released hundreds of beers and won medals at the Asia Beer Championships, Tokyo International Beer Cup, AIBA Melbourne and the Hong Kong IWSC, and its beer is exported to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States and New Zealand.

The beers

• Kurtz's Insane IPA, IPA with seven hops, 7.1%, 102 IBU
• Dream Alone Pale Ale, single-hop Mosaic pale ale, 5.7%
• Dream Sensations Hazy IPA, hazy IPA, 5.7%
• The River India Pale Ale, session-style IPA, 5.7%
• Loose Rivet NEIPA, New England IPA, 7.5%
• Quietest Creature Lemongrass Wit, Belgian-style wit, 4.8%
• Futile Purpose Cucumber Pilsner, pilsner, 4.8%
• Excited Magpie Dry Irish Stout, dry stout, 4.2%
• Eloquent Phantom Imperial Stout, oak-conditioned imperial stout, 11%
• BiA, all-malt craft lager, 5.0%, plus Tropical BiA with mango and passionfruit, 5.0%

Seasonals and limited releases rotate alongside the core range, including barrel-aged stouts and fruited sours.

Where to drink it

The home of the brand is the Heart of Darkness Saigon Taproom at 31D Ly Tu Trong in District 1, open daily from 11am to midnight with a full food menu. The brewery also runs bars at the departure gates of Tan Son Nhat Airport (Terminal 2 and Terminal 3) and delivers across Ho Chi Minh City.

In Singapore it is a regular on tap at The Good Beer Company in Chinatown and Malthouse in Siglap. In Bangkok it features regularly on the imported list at Taproom Saladaeng at theCOMMONS. All of these are listed below.