When you think of the island of Santorini, Greece, your first mental images are likely of whitewashed buildings perched on the cliff side, overlooking the deep blue of the Aegean Sea. Not many people would also envision Santorini as a burgeoning home of the Greek craft beer scene.
While more traditionally recognized for olive oil and beverages such as ouzo, raki, retsina and wine, Greece is starting to make a name for itself with its line-up of craft beers. And while there are some good breweries popping up on the mainland, some of the better craft beers appearing in Greece today are found on Santorini.
On our visit to Santorini, aside from a wonderful meal at Assyrtico Wine Restaurant and a visit to the town of Oia, one of the biggest scores for me was finding a collection of beers from not one, but two different local breweries!
Volkan Beer
Volkan Beer is the first beer from Santorini, brewing since 2011. While the beer itself is final brewed in Argos currently, there are plans to move the brewing operations onto the island in an environmentally friendly footprint in the near future. In the meantime, some of the key ingredients of Volkan’s beers are local to Santorini; Santorini Rare Honey and their trademark Volkan Lavarock Filter. This filter is used to make the brewing water taste like Santorini’s groundwater may have tasted thousands of years ago, around the time of the island’s volcanic eruption.
Volkan has had two regular beers in their lineup from their start, Santorini Blonde and Santorini Black, and when I visited, they also had their new Volkan White available.
The Santorini Blonde (5%) is their flagship pilsner made with Santorini honey and citrus medica. A very standard pilsner, with a hint of citrus.
The Santorini Black (5%) is a Black Wheat Greek Lager, inspired by the black cliffs of Santorini. Beautiful chocolate color and coffee-colored head. Interesting hints of dark grain flavors.
The Santorini White (4%) is a Belgian-style Greek Wheat Beer, and was one of the best wheat beers I’ve had in a while. By far my favorite of the three!
Santorini Brewing Company
More easily identifiable as the Donkey beers, so named for the donkeys who can carry you up from the port to the village of Fira. Santorini Brewing Company brews their beers on the island in Meso Gonia, not far from the top of the road leading up from the new port and not too far from Santorini’s airport. The working brewery can be visited Monday through Saturday between 12 noon and 5PM.
Santorini Brewing Company brews three different “Hip Hoppy Kick-Ass Ales.” Unfortunately, I was only able to pick up and try two of them, with the one I most wanted to try being only available in a 750ml bottle which I wasn’t able to take back to the ship with me that day.
Yellow Donkey (5%) – A blonde ale, made with a mix of old- and new-world hops, providing a slightly citrus taste.
Red Donkey (5.5%) – An amber ale, with a mix of malts to give it a chestnut hue.
Crazy Donkey ( 5.8%) – The first IPA to be brewed in Greece. Unfortunately, this was the one only available in larger format, so I wasn’t able to try this one yet, but I hope to do so when back in Greece in October.
While I enjoyed both the Yellow Donkey and the Red Donkey, I have to give the nod to the Red Donkey on this due, but again, will hold out my final vote until I’ve had the chance to try the Crazy Donkey.
2 comments
There is a huge brewery in santorini since 2019. It’s called Ftelos Brewery and some of their beers are: the BLUE MONKEY lager and the BLUE MONKEY Pale Ale, the MALT N’ MARVEL double IPA, Hibiscus Saison, Salty Rock, Rosemary Gise and many more that you can find all over Greece