Cretan Brewery

Cretan Brewery S.A is the first brewery in the prefecture of Chania Crete. The brewery is located in Zounaki village, in the municipality of Platanias. Its state-of-the-art industrial facilities, occupy 3000m², surrounded by orange trees, avocandos and olive groves. Found just 25 km away from Chania city center, on the way to the most popular beaches in the area like Balos, Elafonisi and Paleochora.

The vision belongs to Ioannis Lionakis, who founded the brewery in 2007. Mr. Lionakis, a mechanical engineer by profession, was born and raised in Chania and had the aspiration to offer locals and visitors a fresh beer, equal to or even better than European ones, something he believed was missing from the Greek market.

The vision became reality and reality turned into a perpetual commitment to excellence. Here at Cretan Brewery, our goal is the production and distribution of excellent, handcrafted beers that exude Crete, its traditions and its timeless values through every glass.

The natural and pure Charma beers are produced in the village of Zounaki, in the Municipality of Platanias, with respect for the environment and the people who consume them. Behind every glass lies the passion of a visionary and the hard work of people who create and work in a sustainable company for themselves and their families. The Cretan Brewery, together with its partner distribution company, employs 50 people, all residents of the prefecture of Chania.

Following the expansion of the brewery in 2015, the company achieved a tenfold increase of its brewing capacity. In the new building sector, a brand-new, up-to-date equipment has been installed, while the second expansion was completed in April 2025. By renewing and synchronizing our facilities and continuously improving processes, we aim to maintain the vision: a fresh and tasty beer.

Fresh beer means beer that is pure and natural, without additives or preservatives, and is kept only in the refrigerator, during storage in the brewery, transportation and provision to the final customers.

Cretan Brewery produces 7 different types of fresh beer: the refreshing blonde Lager, the intoxicating Dunkel, the fruity Weiss, the bitter Pilsner, the exotic Pale Ale as well as our special beers Cretan Ale and IPA, which exude aromas of citrus and tropical fruits and can satisfy every taste!

All Charma beers are naturally cloudy, unfiltered, thus preserving all the nutrients from the raw materials, including that of yeast, which has high nutritional value.

The company is certified with the ISO 22000 quality assurance system, which sets out the requirements for all processes involved in the product chain, from primary production to final packaging and distribution.

Cretan Brewery implements environmentally friendly processes to minimize its ecological footprint.

The installed solar collectors and photovoltaic panels on the roof of the factory as well as the combustion of olive biomass in the steam boiler, provide us with the required thermal loads, while the installation of a geothermal unit ensures the cooling loads needed in production. We have managed to reduce the required volume of water in the brewing process by half. A traditional brewery uses about 10lts of water to produce 1lt of beer. We have optimized the water usage and succeeded in decreasing the consumption to 5lt per lt of beer. Furthermore, through the installed wastewater treatment plant, we utilize all the brewery’s wastewater for irrigation. Finally, by-products such as yeast, hops and boiled barley are used as animal feed and soil conditioner.

The Cretan Brewery team is proud to produce fresh beer in a ‘Green’ Brewery. Get to know us over a glass of Charma and visit us at Zounaki in Municipality of Platanias for a tasty journey into the world of Cretan fresh beer Charma.

Visiting Season: April-November