Touch down on the historic and ancient isles of Greece and the Mediterranean weather simply feels befitting of a refreshing beer. Thankfully you're in luck - Greece has no shortage of refreshing lagers and pilsners that are widely available across the country.

Today we'll give the four most well-known beers a taste and rank them!

But first, let's talk alittle bit about beer-making in Greece.

Ever loved alcohol so much you dedicated a god for it?

Alcoholic beverages in Greece are as historic as the foundations of modern society itself, dating all the way back to the Bronze Age of 3,300 to 1,200 BC. Yet, this has for the most part been dominated by wine-making. The ancient Greeks were in fact so prolific in their love for and making of wines that archaeologists have readily found depictions of Gods and men indulging in the traditions set around wines, with even their very own God of Wine, Dionysus (or as the Romans called him, Bacchus). And so whilst the Greeks had their wines for thousands of years, earning them the classification of being the Ancient World where it comes to the fermented grape, beers certainly took their time to head on over.

This was thanks to the ancient Egyptians who had in their time made beers for over 5,000 years! It was when beer-making thus made its way from the Middle East and found its spiritual home in Europe, where it really took off. And so it wasn't until beer-making was brought on over from Europe into Greece in the 1800's that it would finally establish its roots here - the work of the first king of Greece, Otto, who was in fact a Bavarian native. 

Is it at all surprising that it was ultimately a Bavarian king who brought beer to Greece?

Now that's not to say that in all those thousands of years that beers never once stepped foot in Greece. It was discovered that some time in the 2000 BC's that beers had in fact seeped into the country, yet it was found that a combination of barley not taking well to the Greek weather and the cultural associations with their European neighbours to the north, that beers would eventually be dispelled only to return some 3,800 years later. As it turns out, Europe was far more suitable in terms of its cooler weather for growing barley, which played a huge role in the proliferation of beers there, and the Greeks also had thought of those in the north as barbarians, and thus putting two and two together - the Greeks simply concluded that beers were alittle too low brow for them.

Charles Fuchs (or Fix) established Fix as the pioneer of Greece's beer scene.

From there we fast forward to the year 1832. Otto of Greece, makes his way over from Bavaria, and perhaps most interestingly, he brings with him beer making specialists who the clear aim of developing a beer industry in Greece. Thus began a humble crop of small breweries that developed to serve Bavarian officials and military men who were stationed in Greece at the time. Amongst them was one Johann Ludwig Fuchs (with his last name later transliterated as "Ioannis Fix"). Fuchs had come to Greece in search of his father who had served under King Otto, and whilst he never did find him, he would stay and begin to first import Bavarian beer into Greece, later also homebrewing his own beer in Kolonaki, whilst also apprenticing at at another small time brewer Melcher. He would eventually take over the Melcher before eventually focusing more on his own brewing. By 1864 his son, Charles (or Karolos), would grow the business and sensing a changing of tides when the new king George I, who was from beer-loving Denmark, was to ascend the Greek throne, decided to formally establish Fix Brewery in Athens - the first official brewery of Greece! As the official beer supplier to the Greek king, Fix would remain a monopoly for close to 100 years.

Snippets of Fix's history.

Nevertheless beers still hadn't really taken off even then, and beyond the major cities, you'd have been hard pressed to find any beers to quench your thirst. The industry did manage to survive on the backs of German travellers who persisted in their enjoyment of a good beer - some of these German immigrants would even settle down and start their own breweries as well. By the 1900's, Greece's beer scene was filled with several small breweries which gave it some colour and variety - yet none came close to the dominance of Fix Brewery.

Several factors had allowed Fix to establish a virtual monopoly of the Greek beer market - import controls, a small domestic market, and a singular distribution network, all meant that Fix was able to be the king of the pond with little threat of being toppled. Beers from abroad found it difficult to make its way into Greece, the small market was fairly manageable for a single company to control, and if a stockist was ever to consider representing another beer, they would also have to dispense with getting access to popular carbonated non-alcoholic soft drinks that Fix had also supplied. To the Fix family's credit, they had also proved themselves a top choice, having guaranteed consistent quality of its beers, and were also rather innovative, being the first to introduce industrial refrigeration to Greece.

Mamos' historic brewery in Patras.

Now this did not bode well with other aspiring players who were quite unhappy for some time - yet their time would finally come when a political debacle that implicated Fix would result in the Greek government finally granting new brewery licenses that allowed for new - particularly, foreign - players to emerge. Dutch brewer Amstel would quickly pick up in 1963 one of the licenses to establish Amstel Hellas brewed out of the Athenian Brewery, where it would eventually become part of the Heineken family in 1968 when Amstel itself was acquired by fellow Dutch brewer Heineken. Till this day the Athenian Brewery remains the largest beer brewer in Greece, and has steadily re-introduced other prominent brands such as Alfa and Mamos in the 1990's to 2000's.

This proved to be the foot in the door as over the next decade and a half, numerous European brewers too would follow suit, establishing their own Greek subsidiary. Consequentially this caused Fix to lose substantial market share before eventually going bankrupt. Being indebted to the National Bank of Greece, the "Fix" name would go to the bank. After several attempts at reviving the brand, Fix would finally get off the ground once again in 1995 after major Greek wine maker Kourtaki had acquired the rights to the "Fix" brand, yet it was the Olympic Brewery that would subsequently acquire the brand in 2009 which really propelled Fix back to fame. The Olympic Brewery, which had originally started out producing the German Henninger beer, had also found great success in introducing the Mythos brand, which it had aimed to create as the foremost national Greek beer. Today the Fix brand is produced at the Olympic Brewery in Athens, whilst Mythos is produced at the Olympic Brewery in Sindos, both of which are now owned by Danish giant Carlsberg.

And whilst a number of other prominent breweries had sprouted from the late 80's and 90's, such as the Hellenic Brewery of Atalanti which brews its flagship EZA brand beer, and the Macedonian Thrace Brewery in Komotini which is best known for its Vergina branded beer, the Athenian and Olympic breweries remain the dominant players in Greece today. It should also be pointed out that as the love for beers has grown over the past three decades, a significant number of craft breweries have also emerged, commanding a neat 6% of the country's beer market - some names to look out for are Septem Microbrewery, Nissos Beer, Solo Microbrewery, Santorini Brewing and Corfu.

And so with all that said, it's time to get cracking as we try some of the most popular Greek beers!

Beer Review: FIX (Φιξ) Hellas Lager, Olympic Brewery, 5% ABV

First up! Greek's most historic, first and longest running beer (although it's been revived several times, so not a total unbroken record). Whilst we've broadly tracked the Fix story above, here are some added interesting facts about the original Greek lager. Now when Fix had first started all the way back in the late 1800's, it had quickly become very popular, which necessitated a new brewery at Syngrou Avenue (today the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens). This drew lots of people to the suburb and became a popular meeting point in Athens - as time went on the entire area started to develop as a result and is now an upscale neighbourhood! It even retains its name in the nearby metro station, "Syngrou-FIX"!

Today the old Fix Brewery is a national museum, although hints remain as to its history.

After the brewery shuttered in the 1980's, several entrepreneurs would try to revive the brand, and in the most recent iteration that has thus far succeeded, Fix was brought back on account of a study that was done that found that 95% of Greeks had still known of Fix beer, and had positive associations with it - that sealed the deal and Fix was brought back to life! Today Fix remains an all-Greek brand that is made in its own dedicated brewery in Athens, and is made with Greek barley. Besides its flagship lager, Fix also produces a popular dark beer that's made for winters.   

Tasting Notes

Colour: Light Gold

Aroma: It opens rather wheat forward, it's really quite rustic with bags of rice grain, with accents of citrus. There's a side of savouriness and herbaceous aromas too in the form of white pepper and parsley. It leans dry, and is quite clean and light. It's a little reminiscent of a rice lager.

Taste: It's nicely richer here, more plush and honeyed, with more wheat coming through before letting up to some savouriness. Its lightly sweet with a more rounded richness, with also a good balance here across a medium body. 

Finish: More of that uncooked rice coming through here, accompanied by more wheat as well. There's some light honey running through, adding some light sweetness here. It's a clean finish with some lingering rusticity in the form of grain and honey, as well as some of that citrus, white pepper and parsley too, calling out to something of a witbier.

My Thoughts

Whilst this started off rather quiet on the nose, although some deep inhalation does help us identify some rice lager and witbier characteristics, it's still on the whole fairly light in terms of aromas, with not much in the way of richness. However, when we get to the palate, it actually shapes up really nicely, with a much more satisfying richness and roundedness - it's in fact plush and honeyed! Quite the 180 degree turn from its aromas, which is mighty surprising and a positive development. It's fairly straightforward in terms of flavour, yet as we get to the finish, we find those bits of rice lager and witbier coming forth once again, which definitely adds some complexity and character to the Fix, that makes it well worth trying, and if anything for the history!

Score: 5.5/10

Beer Review: Mythos Lager, Olympic  Brewery, 5% ABV

Before Mythos became the de-facto national lager of Greece, taking advantage of the absence of FIX, its history actually goes further back. In the early 90's, the local Greek distributor of the German Henninger beer was acquired and renamed the Northern Greece Brewery - the whole idea was to create a flagship domestic Greek beer (a coincidence?). And thus with that in mind, Mythos was created in 1997 with the sole purpose of appealing to the Greek public. It was a massive success, and the brewery would also change its name to Mythos Brewery, because this was pretty much its main revenue driver by that point. 

By the mid-2000's, the UK giant Scottish & Newcastle (which owned some of the most popular beers in Europe such as Baltika, Foster's and Kronenbourg) would become the largest owner of Mythos, as part of its massive buying spree of flagship beer brands across Europe. And then by 2008, when Scottish & Newcastle was itself acquired by Carlsberg, Mythos too would now belong to the Danish giant, and be folded in with the Olympic Brewery which Carlsberg had already owned.

Worth noting is that Mythos is brewed at the Olympic Brewery in Sindos, as opposed to FIX which is brewed at the Olympic Brewery in Athens.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Gold

Aroma: Really honeyed and supple almost, it sports a great richness, with a touch of wheat and some savouriness. It's dominant with that honey, with a side of rustic and savoury aromas.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, moderately plush and rich, yet still decently creamy and smooth with a gentle honeyed sweetness. The savouriness here is more prominent, with some dryness too.

Finish: The savouriness carries through into the finish yet remains well restrained and gentle, all on a backdrop of honey. It's smooth and seamless into the finish, with good richness.

My Thoughts

An altogether very decent lager that comes packed in a really nicely firm body that's also well balanced and with a good richness without being overly sweet despite how honey forward it is. It strikes as being all-rounded across every dimension, with a flavour profile that's more straightforward, even if alittle narrow. That said, it's tasty and enjoyable, and whilst not particularly outstanding, is also without any clear faults. What stood out most to me was the honeyed and supple aromas, as well as the seamlessness of the finish, which made it texturally really enjoyable!

Score: 6/10

Beer Review: Alfa (Aλφα) Lager, Athenian Brewery, 5% ABV

Alfa can be alittle bit daunting to someone who can't read Greek, given that it's label provides very little (if any) detail in English - well, you'll just have to look out for the big red "A". Nevertheless, Alfa, today produced by Heineken's Athenian Brewery, with the brand having been revived in 2001, after having disappeared from the market after its brief introduction in 1961, is now a rather popular lager in Greece, and also sports an interesting history that's worth mentioning.

As with all things Greek beer, we can't run away from FIX. Whilst sources vary on who exactly, it is known that Alfa beer had originated from a member from the Fuchs (or Fix) family who had wanted to break away from the family and start his own brewery, thereby calling it Alfa Brewery. This took place in 1961 as Fix began to become bogged down and the Greek government became increasingly interested in opening the beer market to other players. Some claim that it was a cousin of the third-generation of Fuchs, whilst others point directly to the direct third-generation Fuchs descendent, one Antonio Fuchs. Nevertheless it didn't do well initially and therefore went quiet until it was revived by Heineken in 2001. The beer is too made with Greek barley.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Gold

Aroma: This almost gets quite industrial on the open, with whiffs of diesel, which fades off to give huge notes of wheat and rice, all very rustic, and also really clean and not particularly rich. There's also some savouriness of grilled meats here.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's still on those big notes of bags of unwashed rice, although here there's also quite alot more honey, which altogether makes it alot richer than the aromas would admit. Some herbaceousness comes through to, as well as more of that savouriness. With more sips, it does seem to lean into being fuller and rounder, and is actually rather smooth.

Finish: The savouriness carries through into the finish, with those big grain-y and rustic notes of unwashed rice too. There's a backdrop of honeyed richness yet it doesn't come off as being particularly sweet. It is nevertheless rich into the otherwise really firm finish.

My Thoughts

Admittedly the nose was not quite my thing - it was alittle clean and thin, with much, much needed richness to really come through as compelling. The diesel was alittle bit of a throw off too, although I did like those rustic rice aromas. Yet when we get to the body, it's quite a pleasant surprise. It's alot richer than feared, yet keeps that raw, rustic rice notes, with here packing in alot more honey, and a nice touch of herbaceousness and savouriness too. Pretty solid work here! This carries through to the finish, and it is rather befuddling at times, with this contrast of being richer and more rounded, yet missing that brighter sweetness that we love in lagers. Altogether, a mixed bag of okay hits and some misses.

Score: 4/10

Beer Review: Mamos ( Μάμος) Pilsner Lager, Athenian Brewery, 5% ABV

Last but not least, we have Mamos. This is again not just a popular beer that's easily found across Greece, but also a rather historic one. Now what did we say earlier about how like it or not, it's quite inescapable the influence of Fix on Greek beer history. And here we see it once again. The story of Mamos goes back to one Petros Mamos, who was Greece's first dedicatedly trained brewmaster - his father was also the country's first Ford car dealer, and his mother, Eliza Fix, was the daughter of the Fix family. And thus after marriage, Petros' father would get into the beer business, and have his son Petros properly learn the ropes over in Munich, Germany.

Panaghis Mamos sees his grandfather's beer revived.

Consequently, Petros understood the importance of using good varieties of malts, hops and yeast, which he brought over from Germany and Bohemia, whilst he developed traditional recipes and came to design his own techniques, all of which helped to influence Greece's beermaking standards positively in subtle but important ways. He did all of this out of his hometown of Patra, a once prosperous city, and Mamos would produce quality beers from 1876 all the way till 1976, at one point riding the wave of Greece's economic boom. It was finally revived in 2017 by Mamos' grandson, Panaghis Mamos, who is a Greek beer historian, and had approached the Athenian Brewery to collaborate on recreating Mamos' pilsner lager.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Gold

Aroma: Deeply honeyed with wafts of wheat, gently rustic yet dripping with thick honey, honey jelly and pollen. It's luscious and rich, with this supple texture and incredible depth. There's a gentle savouriness of charred meat, that contrasts the  buttery cereal richness of Japanese Meiji wheat crackers. It's super honeyed, yet at the same time super fresh, with this cohesiveness and seamlessness.

Taste: It persists on being incredibly rich here, still really supple and incredibly honeyed. Some wheat comes through, paving the way for more of a savouriness of grilled meats. It's really creamy and smooth, with a rounded but not heavy richness.

Finish: Still really mellow, rounded and rich. The savouriness and biscuit-y quality comes together in the form of burnt toast which takes a step forward here, all whilst backed up by honey, although not quite as sweet as before - still really rich though. It's seamless into the finish, with a lingering savouriness and gentle runny honey that rolls on.

My Thoughts

Absolutely staggering! This was ridiculously honeyed, really malt forward with all those incredible sweet breadiness and wheat crackers, coaxed in with some savouriness of charred meats. Yet at the same time, it's really seamless, supple and cohesive, with this great freshness meets richness, without ever coming off heavy or cloying. I have to say I was quite taken aback here. Now that said, this is really more of a Bohemian-style pilsner which emphasises those sweeter and more rustic biscuit-y qualities, as opposed to say a German-style pilsner that's more crisp and with more bitterness. Nevertheless, this was absolutely so enjoyable, plush and rich in flavour.

Score: 9/10