The standard commercial beers that you are likely to find in Greece and on Crete are Mythos, Alpha, and Fix, and they are quite fine as beers go. Microbreweries are now beginning to blossom on Crete, however, and although several of them are in the Heraklion area, two are not far from Gavalochori.
The Cretan Brewery is located in the village of Zounaki (Ζουνάκι), which is southwest of Chania (Χανιά) and not far from the villages of Maleme (Μάλεμε) and Platanias (Πλατανιάς). It is 50 kilometers or 31 miles from Gavalochori. This is the brewery that produces Charma (Χάρμα) beer, which is widely available in the tavernas in Gavalochori and in many places in the Chania region. The brewery was started in 2007 by Ioannis Lionakis, who was running a taverna in the Old Town of Chania, and patrons often asked to try the local beer. There was none, so he decided to give beer making a try. The brewery regularly produces a pale ale, a lager, and a dark beer, and every three months, the brew master creates a limited edition beer that can only be tasted at the brewery. Guided brewery tours are available April through November, and the brewery offers a brewery tour and beer tasting with a lunch option. More information is available here.
The Lafkas Brewery is a local brewery, located at Kazantzaki Nikolaou 102 in Chania, 31 kilometers or 19 miles from Gavalochori. This family brewery is run by Aurelie Petillion and Mixalis Lafkas, who got together when Mixalis went to Belgium in 2011 to learn more about the beer culture and met Aurelie. Five years later, they were living together on Crete with a plan to make a Belgian-Greek beer that would fuse Belgium beer knowledge with Greek products and climate. Their first beer, the White Mountains Triple Hop Pale Ale, was launched in 2017, and others have followed. Tours and tastings are available, and on brewing days, you can sign up to follow the brewing process from beginning to end. You can access more information about the brewery here.
