Amstel
Brewed by Athenian Brewery (Heineken)
Style: Euro Pale Lager
Athens, Greece.
Athenian Brewery SA is one of the leading companies producing and marketing beer in Greece . Founded in 1963 by a group of Greek entrepreneurs, based in Athens, and now a member of the Heineken Group, hence why it sells their own version of that famous Dutch master, Amstel.
Yes Amstel, but this Greek version is no direct copy as it has been in Greece for more than 40 years, albeit they use the original recipe from the Dutch masters.
Not without problems it has to be said, as Heineken, or more like their Greek subsidiary, Athenian Brewery, were fined £25 million by the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC), for abuse of the market by squeezing out competitors through exclusivity agreements and aggressive practices of domination, over a 15-year period. The company was found to be in breach of Greek and EU competition law. Macedonian Thrace Brewery who initiated the lawsuit are also seeking damages from the parent company, as a small Greek brewery they felt stepped on by the large multinational and its aggressive behaviour in distorting the local market. It is said that Athenian Brewery had used “exclusivity agreements” to force publicans to stock Heineken brands, and by offering wholesalers “significant economic motives” to promote their own specific brands while at the same time to refrain from introducing competing products. Well all is fair in love and war I guess!
The brewery also produce the iconic Greek beer ALFA, their own versions of Amstel and Heineken beers, using Greek barley provided by 3000 Greek farmers through its local sourcing programme and malted at its two own malteries in Thessaloniki and Patras. Exporting its Greek brands to over 30 countries all over the world and the number one beer exporter in Greece. The Amstel and Heineken versions are for local markets only, naturally!
Review: 375ml bottle of Amstel beer: 5% vol.
Got on my holidays in Corfu.
Looks exactly like what you would find in Amsterdam, more or less same design, nice brown bottle with the big bright red Amstel logo that we all know and love so well!
On pour we get a clear golden yellow coloured beer with a very small whitish head. Doesn’t look great at all, very disappointing.
Some lacing, but overall not a looker at all.
Aroma is of sweet malts, but overall it is quite light on the nose.
Bit of an off taste to this, slight but enough of it for me to go “urgh”.
But otherwise it is ok, grows on me over the session. Bit tasty, especially as it is poured nice and cold straight from the fridge.
Taste is strong enough to sip. Standard taste of barley and light malts, grains, hops and corn.
One to sip and enjoy cold.
Taste is malty, overall not bad but a bit dull. Not as good as the original master but will do all the same. Not worth buying again though.
One I got on the holiday island of Corfu. 
Barley strong in this one, plus very grainy. 
Pour a pure yellow colour, looks like a very watered down dilutable orange drink more than anything else, or you could say some fruit juice. No such thing as a head on this fella, but then did you really expect one?
In the northwestern corner of the beautiful holiday island of Corfu lies the Corfu Microbrewery, situated in the small town of Arillas.
Got it on my holidays in Corfu. Comes in a very nice distinctive black bottle with a coat of arms of the company that is impressive to see, stands out in the supermarket. 
On the taste, yeah this is really like an old fashioned red ale, spot on. 
Has some good flavours and tastes, grainy and with a touch of caramel, can also get the hops.
Another Greek beer I had on my holidays in Corfu.
Get the barley malt, and lots of it! A bit watery at times too but not enough to be annoying, cant imagine if it was served warm, luckily mine was in the fridge and came out all cool.
The brewery sells a wide variety of beers and also does a good trade in seasonal and iconic brews. They have taken on some interesting brews with an eye on what is happening in the local area. When the Basel Antiquity Museum had a Tutankhamun exhibition in 2004, this inspired the brewery to bring out The Tut-Anch-Ueli, brewed according to an ancient Egyptian recipe of barley malt, emmer, hops and dates and found ripping heel. They did likewise when Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso had exhibitions in the local art gallery. For Van Gogh they actually had a sunflower flavoured beer in their Van Ueli beer, while for Ueli Beer Pablo they brewed a powerful beer with Absinthe, as “Powerful as a work by Picasso”. And for the annual Basel carnival, they have their own specially themed Bock beer, and they also produce a Christmas beer in the run upto to the end of year festivities. In total, more than 50 such specialty beers have been brewed, each available for a specific occasion or seasonally, there really is no occasion without a Ueli beer at hand!
Famous for their specialty beers, Brauerei Fishcerstube, as part of the current “Salmon Comeback Campaign” in the city of Basel, have teamed up with WWF Switzerland to create the “Ueli Laggs special”. The upper Rhine used to be overflowing with Atlantic Salmon about 50 years ago but alas no more, so the WWF are hoping to bring them back. So with every bottle of Laggs you purchase, 50 cents goes towards this great project. I will drink to that!
On the nose I get the sweet malts and the odd fruit aroma, but also the strong smell of hops. They smell a bit stinky, I wonder is that to mimic the smell of a fresh salmon!