Getting it Fixed

An important shortcoming of Greek culture now addressed

Forget all the prophets of doom and the soothsayers who go on about how they don't want to live in Greece any more. They may not like it, but there are loads more people who will heartily disagree with them and tell you how they love living here, warts and all. Let's face it, there is nowhere perfect in this world, but the Greek climate and lifestyle still takes some beating.

Mind you, up until recently one could have argued that the woeful lack of any decent beer here has been a problem for lovers of, well, real beer. Lager's all well and good (or call it "blond beer if you like, but it's still lager) and some would argue, with a little justification I'll admit, that lager goes with the hot climate and all that. Yes, it does, but I for one still get a little fed up with the lack of decent ale. 

Now, of course, there are places out here where you can get, say, a bottle of Newcastle Brown or some such. Maybe even a draft beer. But, and for me this is a big but, it would necessitate visiting the kinds of resorts or bars which don't exactly exude Greekness, but rather a little slice of Britain abroad. Horses for courses and all that, but it's not me I'm afraid.

So, regular readers of my ramblings (get some therapy, some would say) will know that I've been championing Fix Beer for quite a while now. Fix is the oldest and original Greek beer and for me its taste is better than most of the others, but all said and done it's still a lager. But now folks, well, to be precise, for the past year or so, the boffin brewers at Fix have come up with FIX DARK!!

When I used to live in South Wales there was something singularly advantageous about living there. There is a Welsh brewery (based in Cardiff) called Brains and they make some splendid ales. One of their best for me was Brains Dark, which is very smooth and is almost a cross between a dark mild and a stout. I would run out of superlatives were I to try and describe how wonderful is a pint of Brains Dark, which is a handy way of avoiding trying to think any up.

Now, as you can see from the photo above, Fix have come up with Fix Dark and I have to say, it finally means that there is a Greek beer that is half as good as a British one, or even more than half. Oddly, they still describe it on the bottle or can as a "lager" but I wouldn't. Perhaps the people at Fix think that "lager" is the word for "beer", who knows? More importantly, who cares?

If you're a Brit coming out here for a holiday you could do a lot worse than sample Fix Dark. If you enjoy a real beer and get just a tad cheesed off with lager when on holiday, I think the Greeks have finally got it Fixed.

Umm, if any execs of either Brains Brewery or Fix are reading this, I'm entirely un-averse to tangible token offers of appreciation for the free publ-hick-icity.