#microbreweries

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Diaries: Late night psychotherapy

ATHENS

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[Very good. Love goat cheese, tomato jam. A phallus thick with desire, rising from a dark thatch. Microbreweries now are getting so built up, they're pretty high-end.]

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A New Generation Are Changing Greece’s Beer Culture

If you previously stepped inside a traditional Greek taverna or bar, you most likely received a list of Greek wines or liquors as examples of local tipples. Whether it’s ouzo, tsipouro, raki or retsina, the reputation of these drinks is well established, and for good reason. However, in an era where craft beer and microbreweries have been sweeping major cities across Europe and America, the lack of bespoke local beer in Greece has been noticeably lacking. But this is changing.

In the past few years, a new generation have sought to shake up the beer culture in Greece, harnessing the same local pride and expertise they apply to their cooking. The dominance of a handful of major Greek beer brands – Mythos, Fix and Alpha – is coming to an end.

‘There were very few really interesting quality beers on the Greek market. So, we decided that we should create quality beers for the Greek population,’ explains Kjetil. Solo debuted their first beer at the Athens Beer Festival in 2015, and the brand has continued to grow ever since.

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Alighted upon this - product of one of the various micro-breweries flourishing over here, reaction to mass produced beer. Interesting labels esp. the information side!

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6 Local Beers You Need to Try in Greece

Forget raki, retsina, and ouzo—Greece is much more than just these local spirits and drinks. In fact, in a country where most beers are produced abroad, a few innovators took up the challenge to change this statistic and offer local beers that are 100% made in Greece. Here are six Greek beers you should try the next time you visit the country.

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Brewing beer to defy the crisis in Greece | Business | DW | 03.08.2017

Craft beer is becoming increasingly popular in the southern eurozone nation of Greece. But young brewers such as Nikos Roidos don't have it easy - and not just because of red tape and the ongoing crisis in the country.

When Nikos Roidos (pictured above on the left) strolls through the many delicatessens and wine shops in Thessaloniki, there's hardly anyone who doesn't know his name. The 32-year-old man is one the four founders of Ali-Beer, the first microbrewery in the Greek metropolis. "We used to be interested consumers, but never thought of brewing beer as a profession back then," he said. His cellphone rings time and again. "This is the main season for us brewers," he added apologetically. "We're also in charge of deliveries; and now that the beach bars in the tourist regions are crammed, we work around the clock." Roidos and his friends are among the few who can stand their ground in the market with a new product, while most Greek retailers keep grappling with weak domestic demand. Despite a challenging market environment, demand for new Greek beer brands is on the rise. This is one of the reasons why Roidos decided to return to his crisis-hit home country after studying abroad. Ali-Beer has turned into one of Thessaloniki's best-loved craft beers. You can find it in almost every wine shop and liquor store there as well as in pubs, bars and supermarkets. "We all studied in the Netherlands and found out there that beer is a versatile beverage," Roidos said. "And then there was this idea of brewing your own beer for the Greek market." He said it had been quite hard to get the money to get going. In the end, a combination of private capital and EU subsidies convinced a bank to grant a credit line for this business idea.

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Not too long ago, if you wanted a beer in a bar or restaurant you were often presented with one choice and one choice only: Heineken or Amstel? Gradually Greek labels started to make a more regular appearance  – Mythos, Alpha, Fix, and Vergina. All lagers and not much to write home about, but drinkable enough, and local.

That appears to have only been the beginning; Greek beer brewing is having a bit of a heyday with an increasing diversity of Greek beers on offer.  Several beer-themed restaurants now cater to beer aficionados (such as Beer Time, Athens Beer Restaurant, Beer Academy) and over 50 breweries and microbreweries nationwide are producing some truly exciting products, from crisp pilsners to frothy wheat beers to dark ales.

The choice for our first four test beers was more-or-less random; the idea was to try out beers just as anyone else might, out of sheer curiosity and enthusiasm. We wanted to be seduced by factors like interesting names and attractive labels – matching them with the mood of the day.

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The Foundation of Finnish Microbreweries is planning to take over the European beer market and, with the help of the Finnish Institute at Athens, the Foundation has placed an advertisement in the very best place of Greece. The sum that the advertiser has paid is not revealed to the public but according to the brand and marketing strategist I.J. Nylander-Jones the price is absolutely reasonable when compared to the exposure and visibility. - And today is the first of April, and thank you to the Finnish Institute in Athens for the prank! :-)