Greek islands harbour fine craft beers

If the Greek craft beer movement needs a theme song, it has to be Islands in the Stream. The country has several thousand islands of which 227 are inhabited and brewing is in full flow on several of them.

It was refreshing to be in a country where beer is made not only in the capital city or on sprawling industrial estates but also in many locations of great beauty.

Alexandros Kouris launched the Nissos brewery on Tinos in the Cyclades group of islands in 2012. The brewery is based in an old stone building that was once a tavern and now welcomes visitors who can view the brewing process and sample the beers.

2012 was not the best year to open a brewery as Greece was locked in dispute with the European Union over its budget and the economy was in deep crisis.

But Alex had worked in marketing and tourism in Greece and abroad. He used his experience to brew beers that would refresh locals and the large number of tourists who continued to visit the country despite the financial problems.

He had run his own business in Abu Dhabi and he had the funds to build a first-class brewing operation. He had the added good fortune to have as his partner Maya Tsoclis, a leading travel writer and TV personality, who helped launch and promote the beers. (The couple are pictured, centre, receiving the European Beer Star Gold Award in 2015.)

“The state was effectively bankrupt when my first beers were launched in 2013,” he says. “But the brewery was seen as an inspiration. It received a lot of interest, with 30,000 followers on Facebook.

“I first tasted American craft beers when I was working in London and it was my dream to make first-class beer on a small island.”

Alex went on a course at the world-famous Leuven University brewing school in Belgium and decided to produce only organic beers. He stands out from the Greek brewing crowd, where many ales are made, by concentrating on lager beers. He says his Pilsner is now the biggest-selling craft beer in Greece.

“99 per cent of Greek beer is lager,” he explains. “It’s part of Greek culture. I want to get drinkers to convert to good lager.”

He feels lager yeast allow hops to fully express themselves: he uses mainly German hop varieties, with some Czech Saaz.

All the beers are unfiltered and unpasteurised. The 5 per cent Pilsner has a rich gold colour with a big malty aroma and palate, balanced by floral and peppery hops.

Nissos 7 Beaufort is a strong, 7 per cent, dark lager that takes its name from a powerful wind that blows in the Cyclades. The beer is brewed with caramel malts and three German “noble” hop varieties. As Alex says, the beer is in the style of a Baltic porter and delivers a big coffee hit on the aroma and palate.

All Day is a 4.5 per cent beer that is gaining rapid popularity as a “session lager”. It’s a clean-tasting and quenching beer, with a predominantly malty palate but a good balance of citrus hops. In sharp distinction, a 6.5 per cent Imperial Pilsner is big and full-bodied, with Noble hops adding a strong counter to the rich and juicy malt base.

Alex is producing 6,000 hectos a year and he and his team are busily expanding sales throughout Greece. It’s hard work as “the big brewers keep craft beer out of the main bars and we have to sell to restaurants and beer shops.”

The Nissos brewery is based in Vagia near the port of Timos. It’s open for brewery tours between 15 June and 15 September. For further information go to info@nissos.beer.

The Santorini Brewery, based on the island of the same name, is best known for beers that all have donkey in the name, such as Red, Yellow, White and Crazy Donkey. The company, founded in 2011, is a cosmopolitan affair, run by Greek wine maker Yianis Paraskevopoulos, American Majid Anderson, Serbian brewer Boban Krunic and Brit Steve Daniel, who has a background in both wine and beer.

The brewery is based in Mesia Gonia and the kit is from Austria. The beers include Red Donkey, 5.7 per cent, with colour from a generous amount of caramalt and hopped with Aurora, Citra, Nelson Sauvin and Styrian varieties. It has a vinous fruit character balanced by peppery hops and cracker wheat grain on the aroma. Juicy malt builds in the mouth with continuing vinous fruit and spicy hops. The finish is bittersweet with tart fruit, floral hops and juicy malt.

Yellow Donkey, 5.2 per cent, is a golden ale brewed with Aurora, Cascade, Motueka and Styrian hops. Crazy Donkey IPA, 5.8 per cent, is hopped with Cascade and Nelson Sauvin, while White Donkey is a German-style Weiss beer, hopped with Galaxy and other Australian hops. Slow Donkey, 9 per cent, is aged in oak wine barrels with the addition of wine must and is bottle conditioned.

The beers are unfiltered and unpasteurised. One lager is produced, Lazy Ass, 5 per cent, which is a collaboration brew with Flecks Brauhaus in Austria.

One craft brewery that is making waves from its island home is the Mykonos Brewing Company. As the image (top) indicates, founders Angelos Ferous and Janos Bako have been inspired by the zany style of BrewDog in Scotland. In fact the two young men, keen home brewers, met while they were picking up the brewing skills at BrewDog.

With support from Yiannis Paraskevopoulos on Santorini, the pair set out three years ago to make beers in line with the vibrant styles coming out of the US and the UK. Their flagship beer is Mikònu Blonde Saison, 5 per cent, hopped with Equinox and Simcoe. It has a modest 18 units of bitterness but the hops nevertheless deliver a peppery hop aroma balanced by biscuit malt and gooseberry fruit. There’s tart fruit on the palate with continuing peppery hops and biscuit malt, followed by a bittersweet finish with spicy hops, tart fruit and rich malt.

Mikònu Pale Ale, 5.3 per cent, is hopped with Citra and Mosaic varieties and pale and caramalt grains. It’s dry hopped and has a big citrus fruit nose with grapefruit, passion fruit and mango, with juicy malt and grassy hops. The palate is fruity and malty, balanced by grassy hops, while bitter hops, juicy malt and citrus fruit are beautifully balanced in a finish that has a very bitter finale.

Other beers include a Saison hopped with Sorachi Ace and a 4.2 per cent Bohemian Pilsner. A Cucumber Saison was on sale at Athens Craft Beer Expo and had sold out before I had the opportunity to sample it. I did manage to taste a superb 6.6 per cent Barrel Aged Ale, aged in red wine barriques for six months. It is packed with vinous fruit notes and a massive hit of oak and smoke. Hops deliver on the palate, balanced by oak, fruit and some acidity. The finish is dry, fruit, acidic and oaky.

Other breweries of note at Craft Beer Expo included the Cretan Brewery on Greece’s biggest island. Founded by Ionnis Lionakis, the brewery produces beers under the name of Charma, including a 5.5 per cent Dunkel, a 5 per cent Lager and a 5.5 per cent Pale Ale.

The Siris Brewery at Serres produces a Hoppy Lager, 4.8 per cent, and an East Coast IPA, 5.2 per cent, as its main beers and also has a stout and a Weiss beer.

The vibrant festival, packed with enthusiastic young drinkers, took place in the stunning Zappeion Exhibition Centre in the National Park, and proved that craft beer is attracting growing interest in Greece.

•I had the good fortune to be invited to two beer-and-food pairing events at leading Athens restaurants. CTC, which stands for the Art of Feeding, is run by head chef Alexander Tsiotinis, who has trained in both Paris and Athens and fuses the two cuisines in his cooking. His dishes were paired with beers from Mykonos and Santorini. 27 Diocharous, 11528 Athens.

Cookoovaya has an owl as its logo and five chefs – Spyros Liakos, Vangelis Liakos, Pericles Koskinas, Nikos Karathanos and Manos Zournatzis – combine their culinary skills to make “wise cuisine”. I had dinner with Alex Kouris of Nissos, with each course paired with his beers. 2A Xatzigianni Mexi, 11528 Athens.

•Beer writer Ionna Andriopoulou introduced me to the amazing Barley Cargo bar at 6 Kolokotroni Str, Athens, just minutes from the main Syntagma or Constitution Square, which houses the Greek parliament. The spacious bar has 350 beers from a wide and diverse number of countries and has 23 taps for draught beer. Greek craft beers include Cretan Charma, Nissos and Septem. Not to be missed.

•Thanks to Constantine Stergides of Vinetum for his help and hospitality.

Below, the taverna at the Nissos Brewery.