Athineo: Celebrating beer through history, innovation and flavors

For those with an interest in beer that goes beyond its thirst-quenching qualities, a visit to the newly established Athineo space – the fruit of a brilliant idea combining entrepreneurship, innovation, tasting, history, art and education – at the Athenian Brewery premises on Kifissos Avenue is highly recommended.

This may all sound exceedingly positive, but how many innovative and groundbreaking ideas actually materialize these days? The first impression upon entering Athineo is one of designed elegance achieved through a balance between information and composition. All in all, a pleasant surprise.

Athineo was born out of the Athenian Brewery’s need to organize its historical corporate profile – the company has been producing Amstel beer in Greece for half a century – and expand into the microbrewery field, given that Athineo vats will produce unpasteurized beer, mainly lagers and ales, made with 100 percent Greek barley and various local aromatic hops.

A team of experts, including interior designer Haris Louridas and historian-curator Iris Kritikou, came together to develop a model venue serving as a museum (tracing the history of beer in general as well as that of the Athenian Brewery) and a place for tastings, visits and seminars. At Athineo, a video depicts the history of beer from antiquity to the present, a story also reflected in a series of beautifully crafted ceramic beer pots designed by artists Iosifina Kosma, Aspa Papalexandri, Tina Karageorgi and Stavroula Papaspirou.

At Athineo, the technical details of beer production go hand in hand with a display of mementos tracing Amstel’s history.

“I came across many of these in Monastiraki and during trips to Patra and Thessaloniki,” noted Kritikou, during a recent visit. According to the curator, the newly established display has prompted a number of beer lovers to inquire about donating items.

Temporary exhibitions

The new venue will be open to the public on Saturdays until the end of June, before closing for July and August (except for seminars and other private events) and reopening in September. The permanent displays will be complemented by temporary shows. The first of the latter, “A Glass for Athineo,” brings together works by a number of artists. It is this kind of interaction which gives Athineo its singular character.

In the meantime, a sense of freshness and well-being, along with the notion of order and ergonomics, point to a distilling of volume in favor of what is important.

Additionally, the multiplying power of creative people works to the advantage of the company and its employees. There is a sense of corporate pride and a feeling of giving back to society.