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Breweries on the map
Crossline Brewing
Launched in 2023 by a collective of veterans of the Cypriot craft scene, Crossline climbed in record time to the top of the island's rankings. From the heart of old Nicosia — a few streets from the green line that cuts Europe's last divided capital — it brews small batches of resolutely hop-forward beers: its New England IPAs Noise and Heat have become the country's most sought-after cans, flanked by sours and occasional lagers. The stance is radical: local sales only, maximum freshness, zero compromise. Proof that new-generation Cypriot craft no longer has anything to envy the continent.
Cycraft
Cycraft chose the nomad's path: since 2021, this independent brand based out Dali way has brewed, on whatever tanks are available, fresh unpasteurised beers for the Cypriot craft market. Its bestiary tells the island better than a guidebook: the Caretta Weiss, a wheat beer named after the loggerhead turtle that nests on Cyprus's beaches, or the Agrino, a session IPA named for the endemic mouflon of the Troodos mountains. Present at the country's craft festivals — including Nicosia's FOAM, the first gathering of Cypriot microbreweries — Cycraft embodies the light-footed, clever generation that brews without walls, but with a territory.
Golem Brewhouse / IM Brewing Ltd
Golem was born in 2021 from the nostalgia of a Czech couple settled in Nicosia: to recreate, three thousand kilometres from Prague, the beer of their homeland. In their small old-town brewhouse, true to their roots, they brew in small batches with Czech ingredients whenever possible: a Bohemian-style pilsner with a dense head, a velvety stout and an IPA, joined by seasonal brews. The name salutes the legendary creature of Prague's ghetto, and the result ranks among the island's most original beers — to be discovered in the bars of old Nicosia and at the capital's craft festivals. Na zdraví!
KEO Brewery / KEO plc
Founded in 1927 in Limassol, KEO — the Cyprus Wine Company — is one of the island's largest industrial employers, reigning over wine and beer alike. Its KEO Beer, a pilsner-type lager launched in 1951 and developed with the help of Czech brewers, has become "the taste of Cyprus": golden, smooth, built for the climate, crowned with gold at the 1987 Brewing Industry International Awards and exported to some thirty countries. From its seafront brewery in Limassol, capable of more than 30,000 hectolitres a month, it accompanies mezze, souvla and sunsets — the absolute institution of the Cypriot table.
Lofou K.E. Microbrewery / BES Beers
Lofou is one of those blond-stone villages clinging to the wine hills above Limassol, between commandaria vineyards and flowering lanes. There its microbrewery signs, under the BES brand — named after the jovial Egyptian protector god familiar to the ancient island —, beers that speak the local dialect: its pomegranate sours, made with Cyprus's emblematic fruit, have become its calling card, alongside small-batch artisan ales. A confidential production, to be tracked down in the village tavernas and the coast's craft shops — the ideal reward after a stroll through one of the loveliest villages of the Limassol hinterland.
Octo Microbrewery / Octopus Brewery
In Sotira, between Paralimni and the Famagusta beaches, Octo brews with one foot in archaeology: its Cyprus Bronze Age Ale with figs and herbs resurrects the beers the island fermented millennia ago, while the Cyprus Grape Ale marries malt with the country's grapes. The rest of the repertoire dares everything Cyprus offers — watermelon, prickly pear, coffee, even tomato — in bold brews that have become the house signature. A small beer museum and guided tours complete the experience, minutes from Ayia Napa. Under the same roof, sister brand Prime widens the range of the most singular producer in the island's east.
Photos Photiades Breweries Ltd
The story of Photiades Breweries crosses two milestones of Cypriot beer. First Leon, the island's very first brewery, founded in 1937, of which the house — incorporated in 1963 — is the heir: its lion-crested lager, relaunched in 2003 to the original recipe in "all malt" form, remains the elder of local brands. Then Carlsberg: licensed in 1967, the brewery made Cyprus the first country in the world to brew the Dane outside Denmark, with such success that the group named the Cypriot plant its best international brewery in 1997. From its modern site in Dali, near Nicosia, the house remains the leader of the island market.
Pivo Microbrewery
Three brothers and their cousin opened in 2015 Nicosia's first independent microbrewery, first running for five years as a brewpub in a handsome old-town building before moving to dedicated production facilities. Pivo's creed is freshness: unfiltered, unpasteurised beers escorted from cellar to glass by the PivoColdchain system, which guarantees cold at every step — distribution, storage, serving — so that each pint keeps the fingerprint the brewer intended. A rigour saluted with medals, including three golds, at competitions in Belgium, Czechia and Hungary. The craft reference of Europe's last divided capital.
Sandy Beer
Sandy completes the family of brands of Photos Photiades Breweries, the Dali house that also brews Cypriot Carlsberg and the elder Leon. Conceived for the island market and its climate, this light, approachable signature is aimed at the moments when Cyprus drinks at ease — beaches, terraces, seaside tavernas — leaning on the industrial plant and distribution network of the market leader. Less known to visitors than its big sisters, it testifies to the group's multi-brand strategy, covering the whole spectrum of local taste. To be spotted in the fridges of kiosks and supermarkets from one end of the island to the other.
True Ale Cyprus Brewery
True Ale announces its programme in its name: "true ale", brewed in Limassol in small artisan batches, faithful to classic styles rather than passing fashions. This confidential microbrewery belongs to the most artisanal stratum of Cypriot craft — that of producers who sell locally, brew by brew, in the bars, festivals and events of the south coast. Little documented beyond its social media, it illustrates the discreet but steady fermentation of an island scene where, from Nicosia to Limassol, every new tank widens the palette a little. An address to follow for rarity hunters passing through the island's economic capital.
No brewery for this initial.