Santorini Brewing Company
Red Donkey
5.5%
Santorini, Greece

The Santorini Brewing Company is the only brewing company on the Greek island of Santorini and whilst on holiday to Greece last summer I stopped by the beautiful island of Santorini. I made the trek down the coast by foot to visit the brewery and sample some of their delicious brews. The company was founded by a Brit, a Serbian, a Greek and an American all with a passion for the hoppy stuff.

Whilst I was there I was able to sample Crazy Donkey (their IPA) and Yellow Donkey, a bitter but really refreshing ale. In Greece Mythos is the most commonly found beer but thankfully in Santorini many restaurants and bars sold Yellow and Red Donkey. The Red Donkey is a slightly darker ale and is a pretty bitter. It’s very hoppy and reminds me heavily of Belgian ales like Duvel and more so Leffe.

Red Donkey is a very strong tasting ale and feels like it is more than 5.5%. But then again they describe their beers “hip hoppy kick ass ales” and that’s very much true of the Red Donkey. Santorini Brewing Company say the Red Donkey is, “formulated with a combination of malts specifically chosen to produce its chestnut hue, utilizes a different collection of hops – including Aurora and Styrian Golding from Slovenia, Citra from Oregon, and Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand.” I really love the branding of this company and was massively impressed by the staff when I visited. Santorini is very well known for its donkeys and the company has taken on that tradition and is creating some fantastic ales.

A lovely island serving up a delicious ale.

BITTER: 3
SWEET: 2
DESIGN: 4
OVERALL: 3