By overwhelming popular demand* here’s the long awaited blog about my few days away in Greece. This was my first time in the Mediterranean country and I was told that the food was good but that the beer scene wasn’t great. The place we were staying had the ubiquitous Mythos lager on draught and nothing else. Well, maybe a few bottles, which weren’t a whole lot better. So I soldiered on and drank a few pints by the pool. The one I was given on the house definitely tasted the best.
I was staying in Nikiti on a peninsula in the north of Greece. According to the internet the best local spot for craft was the humourously named: Fuckin’ Taps. Unfortunately it was never fuckin’ open when I was there. Check it out if you’re in the area and let me know if you have better luck. Down at the seafront I found a few different mediocre Pils and I had to resort to wine at one point.
Thankfully there was some light at the end of the craft beer desert. The Pattern was a newly (eight days!) opened Bistro and Gelateria. They had bottles of Pils, IPA and Weisse from Sknipa (Standard Microbrewery of Thessaloniki) and my favourite was the Bold, a 5% (!) Session IPA. I must also say, the food, ice cream and strawberry lemonade all went down well and the welcome was great. I can’t recommend the place enough.
A short walk up the hill there was a bar called Barcarolla. It’s the focal point of the old town square and you can relax with a beverage and/or some cake under the shade of a large maple tree. It’s not a bad way to pass an hour or two. They also had a small selection of bottled craft beers, the best for my money being the Methia IPA.
The only other beer I’m going to comment on is Nymphe, a macro lager which was pouring in a tiny snack bar called Whatev3r in the pretty town of Neos Marmaras. It was a fiver, which was relatively cheap in the area and it went down ok after a morning walking around. Especially with the complimentary Oregano crisps. And then it was time to go home. Where will I venture next in search of decent beer? 樂 Stay tuned, it won’t be for a while though… Sláinte!
*Reacher, on Untappd asked!
