CRETE CRAFT BEER GUIDE Part 1: East Crete
Updated: Sep 22, 2022
Craft beer... in Crete?
Say whaaaat?
OH YES.
(Looking for Part 2: West Crete? Find it here).
Before we show you the way to Crete's craft breweries, let’s get some basics about why we care anyhow :
1- We’re big time craft beer fans - dare we say beer geeks
2- We love to travel
3- We care about the Earth, oceans & eco-friendly choices, at our very core
We decided to link those three elements together, to bring our local brews to the world stage & created Greece’s very first Craft Beer Walking Tours. It was about time! We kicked off Bonnie and Clyde Urban Tours in 2021 in Chania, Crete with our Craft Beer Walking Tours where we showcase the best brews of Greece, to international beer enthusiasts.
Just think that until 2017, there were fewer than a handful of breweries on this vast island of Crete (the largest of all Greek islands). Since then, the number has boomed to 14 (and counting) while Greece counts over 100 microbreweries!
Until you can savour these fresh brews yourselves with us, on this sea & mountain island, we’ve gathered Crete's Craft Breweries in one place, for all you craft beer lovers.
Look no further for your Crete Craft Beer Guide -
we’ve done the leg work!
Make sure to sign up for the newsletter to get our updates because this list is just going to keep getting bigger & better!
THE CRETE CRAFT BEER GUIDE. PART 1: EAST CRETE
HERAKLION - Crete’s lively capital
NOTOS BREWERY
Beer people to the core. Strong teamwork. Good times.
Alibaba's beer cave. We’re not kidding. These five “brothers” take beer seriously & passionately and have created a stellar micro-brewery with a wide variety of styles and seasonal varieties, not to mention their terrific standard all-year selection. They’re the first brewery in Heralkion beginning all the way back in 2010. Hats off to them!
The guys behind Notos are casual, low-profile, with strong team work & eclectic backgrounds. Take it from us; go to their brewery with a designated driver or a taxi because they pour generously from their spirit into your glass.
SOLO BEER BREWERY
Pros. Clear vision. Character.
Solo claims to make craft beer with soul; holy smokes, do they deliver. It’s something you can taste in every sip. From the team behind the bottle to the finished product, they embody a harmony of elements; people, ingredients, labour, philosophy & enjoyment. Since 2015, joining Cretan and Norwegian roots, they’ve been developing the right balance between these elements and create craft beer must-drinks. No wonder fans visit them from all over the world to see where these delicious brews come from. In addition to their great standard lineup, they strive to release monthly special releases; and we’re here with our beer-openers ready.
KASTA MICROBREWS
Beer-lab heaven. One-man show. Passion.
Downtown Heraklion, Kostas welcomes us into his tap room for a truly enjoyable time. Picture state of the art equipment, fresh barrels of epic beer & a warm friendly attitude. He mixes a range of 9+ hop varieties in his lineup collection; an absolute delight for beer people. He serves remarkable beers & has already won Frankfurt International Trophies deservingly so for his Oatmeal Stout and Immortal IPA.
KASTA is an acronym; K for the man behind it all Kostas, A for his lovely wife Anna, S for their daughter Sofia, T for Tita the dog, A for the family name Antonakakis.
Watch out for this one & get ready for well-crafted beer.