Inspired by Frank Zappa’s quote 'you can’t be a real country unless you have a beer or an airline', the Cyclades Microbrewery was started on Tinos in 2012 during Greece’s financial crisis by Alexandros and Maya. Convinced that the bleak domestic beer landscape was symptomatic of the country’s woes, the pair turned to creating a new beer – Nissos – an all-natural artisanal beer with a distinctive flavour that hopes to capture the essence of being on a Greek island. Small-scale production allows the brewers to remain independent and maintain high standards by carefully monitoring all steps of the production process. Nissos produce primarily craft lagers and pilsners.