Today we want to talk you about a special place, the result of its creator’s big love for the island and the beer: the Cretan Brewery of Charma Beer (in Greek: Χἀρμα).

We left home in a warm day and we arrived in about 30 minutes at the village of Zounaki, where the brewery is located. It occupies about 2000m²., surrounded by orange and olive trees. The day before the visit we booked on line (www.cretanbeer.gr) a brewery tour with beer tasting for 7€/person. It’s not necessary the reservation, but It’s better to do it if you have the possibility.

Next to the brewery, there is an area with a kitchen and a bar and a beautiful, large terrace where you can eat, drink, taste or only enjoy a moment of relax with an amazing view on the orange trees. During the brief guided tour, we learned a lot about the production of this cretan nectar. Above all, we have been struck by the brewing process that is as natural and as eco-friendly as possible.

The raw materials, for example, are of very very high quality and they often come from the local territory. The water for the production of the beer comes from the crystal springs of the Cretan White Mountains. The barley is largely greek. The beer that is produced is fresh, that is unfiltered and unpasteurized. For this reason, it retains all the nutrients from its raw materials as well as it has a very savory taste.

About the brewing process, it is environmentally conscious. For their heating needs, they use solar panels and burning olive pits, both great sustainable energy resources. For the cooling needs, they have installed a geothermal cooling system.

Thanks to the installation of brand-new, up-to-date equipment in 2015, they have optimized the water consumption necessary for the production of the beer, halving it respect to the traditional breweries. Actually, we have been amazed by this small and innovative business, we must say. The attention to detail, to the environment, to the quality and the customer are their distinguishing features.

At the end of the tour, we relaxed on the amazing terrace and we started our beer tasting: 4 fresh beer samples of 300ml each, accompanied with local Cretan mezedes (appetizers). The first tasting was the Charma Lager blonde beer, with its fruity and floral flavours… delicious!!! The second one was called Grape Ale or Wine Beer, because it is fermented with grapes from a neighbouring vineyard…really original! For the third tasting they served us the Pale Ale, an amber beer: the bitter beer lovers will be crazy about it! The last one beer that we tasted was a dark one, the Dunkel. Brewed in the perfect style of Munich, this beer revealed notes of chocolate and coffee.

So, this was our experience at the cretan brewery… did you like it? We think that this could be an “alternative” and funny way to spend a couple of hours during your holidays ;-).

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