brewery history brewery history 149 · brewery history number 149 13 figur e 1. the fr ont of the...
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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.
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