KEO is a Cypriot beer. It is a light straw-colored

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

with a thick head, and is sometimes compared to a

pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. History ...

in taste. The name KEO is the beer producer's corporate acronym of Κυπριακή Εταιρία Οίνων (Cyprus Wine Company). The beer is brewed in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

, in Cyprus. The beer won the 1987 brewing industry world bottled lager competition gold medal. In 2010, KEO held a 32.4% share of the island's beer market.

History

During British colonial rule and following the successful introduction of industrial beer production in 1937, the KEO company launched their beer product in 1951. The original recipe and technical consultation came from Czechoslovakia, however, increase in demand necessitated sequential production facility upgrades although the recipe remained unchanged.

Awards

Keo beer was awarded a gold medal by the

Brewing Industry International Awards The International Brewing Awards, previously known as the Brewing Industry International Awards (BIIA), is a biannual brewing competition with its origins dating to 1886. It is believed to be the oldest international brewing competition in the wo ...

Controversy

In 2010 the appearance of the beer in a pornographic American film sparked a reaction by the largest shareholder in the company, the

Church of Cyprus The Church of Cyprus () is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches; ...

References

External links

* Companies based in Limassol Beer in Cyprus Cypriot brands Beer brands {{beer-stub