Greek Craft Beer in Athens: Beer Time

When visiting Athens, Greece, you’ll likely find plenty of options for good Greek wine and spirits, but finding Greek craft beer may be more frustrating.

Most of the pubs and kiosks I wandered into in Athens offered only some macro beer selections from Greece and other parts of Europe. Familiar Greek beers like Fix, Alfa, and Mythos were the norm. Finding offerings from the growing number of craft breweries in Greece was a bit more of a challenge.  And, looking at recent check-ins on sites like Untappd and RateBeer didn’t provide much more insight.

Eventually, I found a list of beer pubs in Athens on RateBeer, and was a bit saddened to find that most of the best beer locations listed were rated high for their selection of craft beers from other locations, such as Scotland.  However, buried down on the list at #11 was Beer Time, which mentioned in their listing a few of the beers I was most looking to find during my visit to Athens for the Travel Bloggers Exchange (TBEX) conference.

Greek Craft Beer at Beer Time

The first beer I tried, which was my number-one wish-list beer of the trip, was the Crazy Donkey IPA from Santorini Brewing Company.  I had tried the other offerings from Santorini Brewing, Yellow Donkey and Red Donkey, on our cruise in May, but missed out on the Crazy Donkey at the time.  I was not to be denied a second time!

Crazy Donkey was the first IPA to be brewed in Greece.  It’s brewed with Santorini Assyrtiko grape must and Nelson Sauvin hops, and is a very serviceable IPA. At €20 for a 750-ml bottle, this may not be the best choice for everyone, but it’s not totally obscene when compared to normal prices for beer here in town (typically around €5 for a 500-ml bottle of the local macros).

The only other beer I tried this visit was no slouch either.  My second choice of the evening was the Single Hop Citra IPA from Septem Microbrewery in Euboea, which is the highest rated Greek Craft Beer on RateBeer.  This beer was the result of Septem’s first homebrewing contest.  A very different IPA than the Crazy Donkey due to the Citra hops vs. Nelson Sauvin, and also very good.  And yes, I did enjoy this one a little more even! The Septem Single Hop Citra IPA runs €7 for a 330-ml bottle.

There are a number of other beers on the list at Beer Time that will appeal to almost all tastes, from breweries such as Chios, Zeos, and Siris.  The selection does show that Greek craft beer has a future, and will hopefully not be so difficult to find for too much longer.

Food at Beer Time

Beer time offers a menu of mezes, salads, wraps, BBQ meats, and local specialties.  I opted to try the traditional Spezofai, a skillet dish of sausage, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Some of the other menu items also look very interesting.

Most guests seemed to be given a small glass of Tsipouro as a digestif either with their check or just before, a nice, traditional Greek touch.

Beer Time Location

Beer Time is located in Iroon Square, just a short walk up Miaouli from Monastiraki Station.  Beer Time is open from 6PM daily, except it is closed on Mondays.

Beer Time Facebok Page: Beer Time