Thirty Three Brewing Company, is one of the newest breweries in Greece. Based in Athens, is a subsidiary of Cava Di Patsi, the major wholesaler of Greek craft beer. Its product portfolio consists of all Greek microbreweries and gypsy brewers with well established local labels like Flaros, Strange Brew, Dark Crops, Noble Men, Clepsydra and others.

Greek Craft beer, despite the major economy crisis, has  grown significantly in the last decade, with an increase in microbreweries, from 3 in 2010 to about 40 in 2020. Most of these are distributed locally with a major seasonality in sales, as Greece is a “wine” country and beer is considered as a summer beverage.

In 2019, Cava Di Patsi founder Timos Patsos in cooperation with Dark Crops brewer Vassilis Segos, decided to invest in a 20hL Brewhouse and establish “Thirty Three Brewing Company”. The scope of the investment is to create the first contract brewery in Greece that will satisfy the demands for high quality but affordable craft beer. YoLong Industrial is lucky to be the supplier for this brewery equipment after a thorough communication with the head brewer and engineer Vassilis Segos.

As Head Brewer and engineer Vassilis Segos says: “We wanted to invest in most quality equipment our budget permitted. Most European manufactures were far beyond our budget, and we had heard horror stories about Chinese manufactures. We were lucky to get a reference for YoLong and contact them, requesting a proposal. After their initial tender, we had a lot of correspondence to customize our equipment in our needs. Communication was easy, and that is rare when dealing with Chinese manufacturers. They were able to provide easy and affordable solutions to our demands. They also refuse to use cheap and unreliable components. We were able to design a robust 4-vessel 20hL brewhouse, capable of producing beers with plato over 25. Although YoLong is not the cheapest, they are a manufacturer that can guarantee reliability and lifetime service.”

YoLong has been working on microbrewery project since 2004 and insisting on top quality and customization brewhouse. Please contact YoLong for your brewery, beverage, winery, kombucha brewery, cold brew coffee equipment via [email protected]. We would be glad to work with you.

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When it comes to alcohol, there is one thing that might upset many drinkers.

It ain’t cheap.

 

Most alcoholic beverages, with only few exceptions are considered to be more expensive than their alternatives.

This happens to be the case due to several reasons, one of the most important being that the manufacturing process is very expensive.

There is much that goes into the manufacture of beer. From its ingredients to the preparation process, the beer manufacturing is not an easy task.

A lot of the effort is required to ensure that the preparation of alcohol is done in the right manner. Of the many things considered important for the manufacture of alcoholic drinks, one of the most important stages is the fermentation process.

Alcohol is prepared by fermenting starches with the help of yeast. The yeast helps to break down the sugars into alcohols and is a process that can take anywhere from a few months to several decades!

And then there is the normal issues with packaging, distribution, brewery management, salaries, etc. All of those factors will ultimately play a role in the final price of a beer.

While that is understandable, there’s a mystery in regards to the price of what’s called ‘craft’ beer. In other words, they wonder as to why craft beer is so much more expensive in comparison to regular beer.

What is a Craft Beer? Craft beer is in simple terms the beer that is made by small breweries or microbreweries, which are sometimes called as craft breweries. The business model of these breweries is based on small production batches, emphasis on brewing techniques and attention to the alcohol’s flavor. Also, the businesses tend to be family owned or at most a small company.

 

So what’s the problem?

1. There is no ‘Economy of Scale’

If there is one thing that is familiar to every economics student or for that matter anyone who understands the markets, it is that the more you produce of something the cheaper its price should be. A corollary of this is that the less of something you produce the more it will cost. Demand and supply economics.

Simply put, the average craft brewery tends to produce beer in very small batches which drives the price up. To a large extent, the high prices are a result of necessity rather than choice.

 

2. There Is Something Unique About the Recipe

Many craft breweries tend to operate as family businesses or perhaps small companies.

And if there is one thing that is common to many of them, it is a certain ‘interesting’ and ‘unfamiliar’ taste.

Quite often, this taste difference is the result of recipes handed down from generations or perhaps recently invented.

This ‘premium’ taste that the beer offers tends to be one of the reasons why the price is high.

 

3. Taxation

This is not the case with all breweries. Taxation is something that all companies have to deal with.

This is true for the beer industry as it is for anything else. And when it comes to taxes, larger companies often find ways to reduce their tax burdens either through the help of government subsidies or good chartered accountants.

Small companies by nature have less resources to benefit and access governmental subsidies and other such policies.

Eventually the tax will be passed on to the consumers.

 

4. Import Duty

In addition to taxes, there is also import duty charged whenever a product is imported into a country.

In case the craft beer is imported into the country, rather than being prepared in it, there will be a certain percentage levied by the customs agency for importing it.

Another thing that is to be added here is that craft beer tends to have a higher ABV (alcohol by volume) percentage in comparison to regular beer, which in turn affects the amount of duty that is levied on it.

 

5. The Branding

There are many companies that tend to charge a premium based on the name of their brand. This has nothing to do with actual scarcity of the product or for that matter anything else. It is just case of capitalism and nothing more.

And this is very much understandable if you look at the situation from a capitalist perspective. The company is only doing what anybody would do, if they were backed up with a great reputation.

 

6. Rising Ingredient Cost

This isn’t really specific to craft beer but rather something which applies to the entire beer industry.

In recent times, there has been an increase in the global prices for raw materials like barley and hops. The increase in prices in turn, have been due to a variety of reasons like crop failure, increased global demand, changes in land use patterns, urbanization, etc.

The cost of purchasing raw materials that have been incurred by these breweries, have in turn been passed on to the consumer by the companies.

 

7. Distribution Costs

Another important factor that makes craft beer expensive in comparison to regular beer is the distribution cost.

Large companies often possess their own distribution channels, or at least make deals that work out in terms of affordability. This however, is not the case when it comes to small brewers who have a hard time bringing their product to their consumers.

 

As a whole, the above mentioned reasons are some of the most important as to why craft beer is usually expensive.

There are indeed other reasons as well but these are by far the most important as to why craft beer is more expensive than regular beer.

 

For lovers of beer, it is an obvious fact that in order to make beer, you have to use yeast. Most people know that beer is a fermented beverage, just like the ever-popular kombucha drink that is hitting health stores everywhere, but not everyone knows what fermentation actually means.

This unique process is completely responsible for giving beer its alcohol, taking it from a funky tea to something that you can get drunk on at a football game. However, few people know how this process actually happens and what about yeast takes grain water and turns it into something that tastes delicious and has intoxicating effects. In this guide, we are going to give you a crash course on what it means to ferment beer and how it applies to your brewing process.

In a simple sense, yeast takes the glucose and turns it into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. As most anyone knows, alcohol is the component of beer that is capable of getting you drunk. The carbon dioxide gas is responsible for lending beer the wonderful carbonation effect that it is so well known for.

These two products, born of the fermentation process, are signature aspects of beer that make it what it is known for. While other alcohol types also rely on fermentation, beer is generally known for its signature use of grain or barley as a base. Depending on what is used and how the beer itself is fermented, the alcohol and carbonation levels in the beer can change. You will probably have noticed that some beers have a higher alcohol content than others. You will likely also have noticed that some beer has more carbonation than other kinds. Each of these factors and how they play out in the brewing and fermenting process is determined by the approach that the individual making the beer makes.

The aspect of the beer that is involved in the fermentation process actually exists prior to it becoming beer. During the brewing process, a liquid called wort is made that is the result of boiling grains and their respective enzymes. This wort is then taken and mixed with a set amount of yeast in order to determine how the fermentation process will play out. The yeast will convert the glucose in the wort to the alcohol and carbon dioxide, and from this process, beer is made.

The fermentation process is not a universal constant. In reality, it changes from one type of beer to the next. Fermentation as a process is known to emit heat, and the temperature that the beer is kept at can determine what kind of beer it actually turns into. Some types of beer are maintained at higher temperatures while other types of beer are kept at lower temperatures. This, in combination with how long the fermentation process is carried out, can determine various factors about the beer. Some beers are fermented for a couple of weeks while others can be fermented for well over a month. It is all kept to the discretion of the creator.

When you make your beer, the fermentation process is considered one of the most relevant steps. Since it gives the beer some of the signature traits that we all know and love, it is easy to see why people stress this step so much. It is what takes an awkward brew and turns it into that delicious cold one at the end of a long day. As you pursue your brewing process, you will find that the various approaches to fermentation available can drastically impact the final product. Don’t hesitate to experiment with this step to see how you can alter your homemade brews.