Beer in Greece
Although it was believed that during the time of Ancient Greece beer was not consumed, recent archaeological excavations exposed artifacts and materials used for the production of beer. These findings date back to the bronze age of history.
During modern times the first official brewery of Greece was founded in 1864. Today, Greek produced beer has slowly but surely become a part of the local culture and has expanded beyond its borders as demand has increased in numerous countries around the world. Although wine still has the highest consumption rates within Greece beer has increased market share and has become an important industry for the Greek economy providing more than 60,000 jobs in 2005.
History
Alcohol consumption has always been a part of the culture in Greece, although it has adapted and changed in certain aspects over the generations. Initially Greece had a strong wine drinking culture. This culture adapted and developed as beer and spirits begun to grow in popularity.B.C
The Ancient Egyptians were the first to show evidence of beer consumption as they documented the brewing process on papyrus scrolls, dating back to 5,000 B.C. This process made its way from the Middle East, into European countries. Greece was one of these countries as remains associated with beer have been discovered which date back to 2135-2020 BC. Beer in Europe became more popular in the northern parts of Europe rather than Greece, as the northern crops provided key ingredients for brewers. Due to the popularity growth of Beer in the north, Greece would prefer to be associated with wine, as they often referred to northerners as ‘barbarians’.Remains of Prehistoric Sites
Archaeologists discovered the remains of two prehistoric buildings, providing materials to which can be used for the development and consumption of beer. A site was discovered at Archondiko and another at Agrissa. Remains suggest that these sites burnt down in a fire, allowing artifacts found inside to be preserved for a rather long period of time. Within the Archondiko site several cereals were discovered that date back to the “Early Bronze Age, phase IV, dated to 2135–2020 BC”, and are key determinants in the brewing of beer. Soultana Maria Valamoti published the findings in a 2018 article, including: “Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum, T. spelta, T. aestivum/durum and Hordeum sp. which were found in dense, sometimes pure, concentrations indicating deliberate storage.”Additionally to these cereals a two-chambered structure was discovered at this site. This structure is said to support temperatures of around 100 degrees Celsius, which is essential in the beer making process. Accompanying this structure there was a discovery of 30 special cups which archaeologists believe may have been used for the consumption of the beer.
Similarly to the Archondiko site the site within Agrissa was well preserved and provides instruments for beer production In Greece. The evacuation of this site was conducted in 1955, 1956 and 1958 by a German archaeologist team. Similar cereal grains where discovered as Valamoti mentions within her article, "the archaeobotanical remains from Argissa discussed here consist of at least 3,588 sprouted cereal grains that were identified to einkorn ; a further 157 sprouted grains were identified as T. dicoccum and 81 as Hordeum ”.
These cereal grains are said to date back 1700–1500 BC, whilst other remains of the house are said to date back 2100–1700 BC. This is of similar time period to that of the site in Archondiko. Within the Argissa site 45 specially sculpted cups where discovered, which is another similarity between the two sites.
Transitioning to Now
The wine culture was prominent all the way until the 1800s. In 1833 the first king of Greece ‘Frederic Othon ’, settled in Greece. Otto came with scientists and specialists from his native land Bavaria, with the intentions of developing the beer industry. Initially small breweries where set up in the 1840s to serve Bavarian officials and military men who were stationed there at the time.Among the Bavarian settlers, was Johann Ludwig Fuchs who established a small enterprise selling home-brewed beer from his house in Kolonaki. It was in 1864 when Charles Johann Fuchs, son of Johann Ludwig Fuchs, established Fix brewery in Athens, the first official brewery of Greece. Finding Beer in Greece among this time was a rarity, and was only available within the major cities. Travelers in the 1900 from Germany allowed beer consumption to continue to grow. Similar German breweries were founded in Greece, such as, Messrs. Melcher, Bachauer, Fischer, Klein, and others.
The 1900's numerous breweries were formed and beer consumption begun to grow. Within the late 19th century micro-breweries began to flourish all around Greece, which can be reflected by the consumption rates. The following table depicts the transition in the alcohol preference of the Greek nation from 1961 to 2016, with wine remaining the predominant drink in Greece.
| Beer | Wine | Spirits | |
| 1961 | 6.86% | 86.14% | 7.00% |
| 2005 | 24.20% | 49.61% | 26.18% |
| 2016 | 31.5% | 45.5% | 21.8% |
Beer consumption is growing constantly and has increased 5 times over in 55 years. Beer brands are found all over Greece and are sold within supermarkets, mini markets and kiosks.
Consumption
Beer in Greece is consumed nationally, as breweries are spread across the nation. Beer consumption in 2014 came to 3.845 million hectolitres, or 36 litres per capita. 440 thousand of these hectolitres was imported to Greece. 406 thousand was important from within the EU and the remaining 34 thousand was imported externally. Looking on the production side of things beer production in 2014 came to 3.75 million hectolitres. 229 thousand of these hectolitres was exported. 67 thousand was exported to within the EU and the remaining 162 thousand being exported outside of the EU.Popular Beers
A survey conducted by 510 residents from all over Greece by Avgeris et al. Concluded that the three most influential factors when purchasing beer in Greece are: Price, origin and brand name. Price is considered to be the most significant factor influencing consumer choice surrounding Greek beer. The survey concluded that 50.6% of the public would rather buy ‘cheaper’ beer as opposed to their local. However, if money was ruled out of the equation, the public would prefer to drink their local beer.As stated, brand name has an influence over consumer choice surrounding beer in Greece. Avgeris et al. article establishes the five most frequently mentioned brands of beer in Greece to be, Amstel, Fix, Heineken, Alfa and Vergina. Four out of the five brands mentioned belong to two of the largest breweries in Greece with Amstel, Heineken and Alfa being produced by Athenian Brewery and Fix by Olympic brewery. The remaining brand Vergina belongs to Macedonian Thrace Brewery.
The factor to which the public concluded was the least influential aspect was advertisement. 70% of consumers mentioned that advertisement does not play a role when considering which beer to purchase.
Economy
The growth of the brewery industry in Greece has provided work for the citizens as in 2014, 60,965 jobs were related to beer. Indirect employment of the same year was 4,507 jobs. Total consumer spending in 2014 was 1,689 million Euro. This is correlated to beer acting as a stimulus as within the same year beer added 494 million Euro to the Greek economy. The citizens are not the only impacted by the industry as the Government revenue in 2014 was 640 million euro. The way to which the Government generate revenue from beer is broken into five categories, which include:- Excise duties - 107 million
- VAT - 253 million
- VAT - 62 million
- Income tax, payroll tax and social security contribution - 35 million
- Income tax, payroll tax and social security contributions - 181 million
Beer production
Breweries
The four major brewing companies based in Greece are the :el:Αθηναϊκή_Ζυθοποιία|Athenian Brewery Αθηναϊκή Ζυθοποιία, a subsidiary of Heineken, holding more than 53% of the market share, the Olympic Brewery, a subsidiary of the Carlsberg Group, holding almost 27% of the market share,, the Hellenic Breweries of Atalanti holding around 8% of the market share and Macedonian Thrace Brewery holding around 6%.| Brewery | Location | Beer's brewed | Established |
| Athenian Brewery | Athens | Amstel, Heineken, Alfa, Mamos, Amstel Premium Dark Bock, Alfa Weiss, Milokleftis, Alfa Strong, Vios 5, Amstel Premium Pilsener, Marathon, Zorbas, Amstel Free, Fürstenbräu, Alfa Non Alcoholic Lager, Nymph, Amstel Kargo IPA, Amstel Radler Guarana-Lime | 1963 |
| Olympic Brewery | Athens | Fix Hellas, Fix Hellas Dark Premium, Fix Royale, Fix Anef | 2005 |
| Olympic Brewery | Sindos | Mythos, Henninger Kaiser Double Malt, Henninger Kaiser Blonde, Mythos Red, Mythos Radler, Golden Lager, Spartan, Aegean, Aris, Henninger Lager, Elomas, Zythia, Ey Zython, Mythos Ice, Mythology Lager, El Beer, Beeroni | 1968 |
| Hellenic Brewery of Atalanti | Kyparissi | EZA Premium Pilsener, EZA Fine Lager, EZA Alcohol Free, Odyssey Red Rhapsody, Odyssey White Rhapsody, SPAR Lager, Blue Island Fizzy Lemon, Blue Island Pink Grapefruit, New Yorker Fine Lager, Proton Beer, Wind, Berlin Lager, Ermis Gold, Ermis Argus, Pils Hellas, Captain Lager, Hellenic Star, Blue Island, Odyssey Dark Rhapsody - Calypso's Desire, Ducal de Atenas, Saronic, Blue Island Pear Delight, Beeri-Beeri, Imperial | 1988 |
| Macedonian Thrace Brewery | Komotini | Vergina Premium Lager, Vergina Weiss, Vergina Black, Vergina Red, Vergina Porfyra, Hillas, 365 Beer, Edelsteiner Premium Pils | 1996 |