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I have now been in Vientiane a bit over one month and drank several varieties of the national beer, Beerlao many times.

But what I have never seen is Beerlao on tap. Wikipedia suggests some few places do have it but doesn't name any places:

In limited places, the beer is available in draft form (on tap). This is referred to as biá sot ("fresh beer") by the locals.

I have tried to ask a local but he did not understand what I was looking for.

Please tell me a restaurant or bar that sells draft Beerlao in Vientiane.

(Bonus points for places more popular with Lao than expats. Double bonus points for places with Beerlao Dark on tap.)

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    Tangential at best, but since you bring it up .. If you want the local flavor, shouldn't you get out of the capital, already? // Also - draft beer doesn't seem to be such a big thing in this part of the world. Across the border, Chang is similarly tough to find on tap. IME, when you do find taps, they're more likely to be in bars trying to attract foreigners. – hunter2 Oct 7 '13 at 12:06
  • I know some great local places here in the capital but they don't have beer on tap. And I'm stuck in the capital until my replacement bank cards arrive. (They're now one week overdue.) I know it's very likely to be true that it's a lot more common in bars that want foreigners but you never know. I've seen tons of stuff here that I didn't expect to see here hence I've come to StackExchange to ask the experts (-: – hippietrail Oct 7 '13 at 12:15
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    And I've come to heckle for no good reason, it seems. // Yeah, fair enough - forgot about the bank card Question you posted a while ago. // You know there are bottles of 'whiskey' for 9k kip or so, right? (I, for one, don't see the fuss about Beerlao.) – hunter2 Oct 7 '13 at 12:35
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    Beerlao is refreshing and easy to drink in the tropical heat. I like it better than Corona but certainly it doesn't make much sense in Belgium, Germany, or even England. The stench of the "whiskey" in one hitch I had in Thailand made me not want to try that stuff in this part of the world. I'm not drinking the "fuss" - I just want to drink the local beer wherever the local beer is drinkable. And unless you're doing it wrong it usually tastes best in draught form. – hippietrail Oct 7 '13 at 12:45
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    Sure, fair enough, re drink local, and it is drinkable. Some folks in Thailand seem to have a noted preference for BL over the Thai brands; to me, they are all equally mediocre - roughly on par with 'macrobrews' everywhere. Enjoyable on a hot day, sure, but .. I can't see longing for it.// 'Whiskey', you may know, is a catch-all for 'distilled liquor' here. There are many kinds of 'local whiskey' (which aren't at all). Safer than they smell. / But I was thinking of the 'mock' that tries to taste like real whiskey. One (there) had a cowboy on it. Not tasty, but for a dollar - make cocktails? – hunter2 Oct 7 '13 at 14:04
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Ask a local for biá sot ("fresh beer") -- and beware of ice cubes. But these two backpacker stalwarts should have Beerlao on tap:

  • Khop Chai Deu, Setthathirat Rd (next to the fountain square)
  • Bor Pen Nyang, Fa Ngum Rd (aka the waterfront)
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  • Yes actually after I asked here I found both of these via a bunch of Google searches then realized I'd been to Khop Chai Deu on my first night but didn't go back because it felt like an expat place. I looked for Bor Pen Nyang today and it seems to be closed at the moment under renovation - probably because the high season is approaching. It looks like a place that gets the binge drinking backpacker brats. So I'd still like to find a "local" place. – hippietrail Oct 7 '13 at 11:39
  • Bor Pennyang is open after all. Looks like the renovations are finished or were just some minor ones in time for the boat racing festival. – hippietrail Oct 12 '13 at 15:03
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There is a place called Khop Chai Deu which reportedly sells Beer Lao on tap (more reports about it here).

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Besides the two large places that jpatokal and uncovery found, both of which feel designed to attract foreigners, I finally found a small cheap restaurant that has Beerlao on tap tonight.

In fact I'd passed it many times without noticing their draught beer or thinking it was Tiger (a Singapore beer) for some reason.

The restaurant is called Kataenoy (ກະແຕນ້ອຍ) and is on Chao Annou Road between Quai Fa Ngum and Rue Setthathilath (around the corner from Bor Pennyang). It is the rightmost of three similar lively looking restaurants.

Kataenoy restaurant in Vientiane, Laos

Food is priced from 15,000 kip (1.90 USD, 1.40 EUR). The beer on tap (ເບຍສົດ) comes in three sizes:

  • Glass: 7,000 kip (0.90 USD, 0.65 EUR)
  • Pitcher/Jug: 15,000 (1.90 USD, 1.40 EUR)
  • A large dispenser that includes a separate section full of ice to keep it cold for 45,000 kip a (5.70 USD, 4.20 EUR)
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