Construction of the brewery at Mriehel began in 1946

and was completed within four years. It was planned

and designed by Lewis V. Farrugia, the Managing

Director of Simonds Farsons Limited, who was an

architect and civil engineer by profession. In 1948 the

company merged with the Malta Export Brewery to

form Simonds Farsons Cisk Limited. The following

photographs were taken on 27 March 2012.

Located next to new E.U. funded motorways, a visit to

Simonds Farsons Cisk was a wonderful snap shot of

times gone by. On our arrival, my fellow brewer and

friend, Steve Skinner, and I were struck by the build-

ing’s somewhat colonial-old-public school feel. This

was our second day on the island of Malta, a former

British protectorate in the Mediterranean, home of the

oldest structures in Europe, crystal clear seas and big

blue skies. Of course, it has been the scene of many con-

flicts, many ‘owners’ and many Sunday afternoon war

films. After a V.H.S. video presentation, our ‘guide’ was

keen to tell me about the day Michael Jackson came. I

asked who had been since and they replied - you’re the

first since. I do, however, think that was a bit of flattery,

but I can imagine that we were a couple of a few who’d

paid them interest on this level. Walking through the

corridors, garnished with old artwork from the early

adverts, it’s a very romantic place.

When you’re on this small island, population 400,000,

you pass red telephone boxes, red letter boxes and, yes,

you drive on the left hand side. So you can see why the

brewery brews classic English style ales. My heart

jumped to see such quality beer being brewed true today

as they were in the 1930-50s (with a small, obvious,

break) by what would be called a ‘design led business’

today. Blue Label is a really good old, English, amber

ale. HopLeaf, a hoppy, for old school British brewing,

proper pale ale. Cisk, prior to pasteurization, is an

excellent light Czech style Pilsener. Of course, they still

produce the famous Farsons Lacto, a milk stout, in the

vein of Mackesons. They also produce Carlsberg and

others under licence. The only shame was the beer

beyond the pasteurizer. However, because of climate

and lack of cellaring (skills and space), the likelihood of

unpasturised beer ever hitting the tap is slim to unlikely.

Now the head brewer, a very charming local chap,

Herriot Watt graduate and a person well aware of the

larger craft beer scene, is taking on the challenge of

migrating to the new brewing plant. This, I believe, is a

high-tech German system, such is the demand for Cisk

over the ales of old.

I did leave the site with the mind that they didn’t know

what they had there and that people needed to know

about the place. It was a wonderful visit, we drank the

entire range of beers whilst there on holiday, satisfied,

but our taste buds did heart for the unpasteurized

versions of their iconic beers. It was a privilege, near

time-travel, to visit a near long gone period of British

brewing on a tiny island in the Mediterranean.

Journal of the Brewery History Society12

BREWERY

HISTORY

The Journal is © 2012

The Brewery History Society

Brewery History (2012) 149, 12-19

THE SIMONDS FARSONS CISK BREWERY, MRIEHEL, MALTA:

A PHOTO ESSAY

PHIL LOWRY

Brewery History Number 149 13

Fig

ure

1.

The

front

of

the

old

bre

wer

y, a

cla

ssic

arc

hit

ectu

rall

y des

igned

buil

din

g.

The

founder

-ow

ner

Farr

ugia

was

an a

rchit

ect

- an e

arl

y in

dic

ati

on o

f a d

esig

n l

ed b

usi

nes

s.

Journal of the Brewery History Society14

Figure 2. The old fermenters, long since shut down, but very much an indication of heirloom technology

from Simonds, Reading. Lovely old English open fermentation.

Figure 3. The wort is balanced out by these lovely copper tools.

Brewery History Number 149 15

Figure 4. The old copper ‘copper’, located in the front of the brewery building.

Journal of the Brewery History Society16

Figure 5. More brewing plant.

Brewery History Number 149 17

Figure 6. Brewery controls, old style.

Figure 7. All ‘Made in England’.

Journal of the Brewery History Society18

Figure 8. The underneath.

Brewery History Number 149 19

Fig

ure

9.

Th

e b

rew

ha

ll.