For the majority of travelers Greece is not exactly associated with beer. And I’ve also been guilty of completely ignoring the subject until my (male) colleagues reminded me about Greek beer. I stopped for a while to come up with a good explanation why I “dogged” it so far. I could have said that, in general, the beer market in Greece is dominated by the foreign brands (which is absolutely true) and that there aren’t exactly many breweries in Greece anyway…plus I’m not what you’d call a beer drinker (oops!)…However, once you get to Greece and the heat becomes unbearable, you’ll be looking for something refreshing: beer.

Drinking Beer in Greece

It’s true that there are few Greek beers on the market. You can find a lot of foreign brands (Amstel, Carlsberg and Heineken are among them, all produced in Greek breweries) but if you are after a local brand, you’ll have to do a bit of research.

For a country having to withstand so much heat it’s amazing that the local brands haven’t made many waves on the market.

So, without further comments, let’s take a look at the Greek beers (the photos should help you identify the beer considering that many of us don’t know the Greek alphabet)

Mythos

Mythos is, by far, the most popular Greek beer. The company owns the second largest brewery in Greece and has been producing beer since 1970. However, Mythos is a relatively new addition. They started production in 1997 and represented the birth of the first authentic Greek beer.

Mythos is a light beer, produced from selected varieties of barley and hops. It’s a lager beer, which has a reach head and a pleasant refreshing aftertaste. The alcohol content is 5%. You can find Mythos in Europe, US, Canada and Australia.

Athenian

Named after goddess Athena, the protector of the capital, Athenian beer has been in production since 1977. The beer has a full mature taste and 5% alcohol content. It’s a lager beer made of quality ingredients and appreciated both in Greece and abroad. The beer has a pleasant flavor of apple and pear. It has a clean finish and is not bitter at all.

Marathon

>The beer has been produced since 1971. It’s a lager beer, with a full and pleasant taste. Marathon is easy to drink and has a distinctive packaging. Tastes a bit watery and is mild malt spiced. It was a bit of a citrus flavor and a sweet aftertaste.

You can find Marathon is many countries, such as Italy, USA, France and Canada.

Zorbas

Produced by Athenian Brewery, Zorbas combines in a unique way the sweet malts, grassy hops and a mild roasted rye aftertaste. The beer has a clean taste and is slightly sweet.

Alpha (Alfa)

Alpha, although a local product, is very hard to find even in Greece. It’s a rather sweet beer, with a strong hops taste. It has quite a strong taste for a lager beer. Some would say it has the finish taste of soda rather than beer.