On 14th of December 2018, the students of our school (high school of Kolymvari) with their  teachers, visited Cretan Brewery, the first microbrewery in the prefecture of Chania Crete. The brewery is located in Zounaki village, in the municipality of Platania. Its highly sophisticated industrial facilities occupy 2000m2, surrounded by orange trees and olive groves. The industry was founded in 2007 by Ioannis Lionakis.

The students had a great hospitality by the people who work there and were informed about the way that the beer is produced. The goal of the industry is the production and distribution of excellent, handcrafted beers that exude Crete, its traditions and its timeless values. Their top priority is the creation of full- flavored, pure beers without preservatives and additives. They produce fresh equals unfiltered and unpasteurized beer. Fresh, unfiltered beer is the purest and the most natural state of beer. It is hazy, tasty and full flavored and retains all the nutrients from its raw materials as well as the yeast, which has very nutritional value.

The industry and its people care about the Cretan land, so their production process is environmentally conscious. For their heating needs, they use solar panels as well as burning olive pits, both great sustainable resources. For their cooling needs, they have installed a geothermal cooling system and they have also managed to decrease the water usage to the production of the beer. In general, they try to have the minimum impact on the environment.

The students, following a guide, were able to watch all the stages of the beer production and make questions about it. They had a very interesting experience by visiting a local industry which definitely has an ecological orientation.