Fresh Beer

On a hot day, as most days are in Vietnam, a freshly brewed beer is happiness. Like the locals, I find myself showering several times a day to cool down. When a shower is out of reach, an ice-cold beverage can satisfy. My engine’s coolant is bia hơi, locally brewed fresh beer sold only in kegs. Very light in color (and, frankly, in flavor) it is refreshingly good. Drinking beer midday is not hard to get used to: I am quite proficient. However, drinking beer with large fragments of ice in it was a new experience (and truthfully, something I tried to avoid, though it was the lesser evil when warm beer was the only alternative).