beeralewhatever.com |
|
|
|
Breweries — it’s beer and it’s brewed here
Maltese brewers Farsons look to lager for getting their name known abroad…
Malta has always lived with an erratic water supply and the island’s sole brewery, Simonds Farsons Cisk, better known as Farsons, has long learnt to adapt. During the 1970s water rationing was the norm and Farsons had to purchase their supplies from private individuals in order to keep brewing. Relief came with the establishment of desalination plants around the island with Farsons at the forefront of the technology. A trip round the brewery takes in one of its most crucial sections: a water treatment room, where reverse osmosis is carried out. Talking with Farsons’ CEO Louis Farrugia in the imposing marble-floored brewery boardroom, you discover that he is sanguine about this most essential of brewing ingredients. ‘Our water is the most expensive in the world,’ he laughs, ‘we pay one Maltese pound per cubic metre, which is £1.60, for 220 gallons. As well as desalination we also have a reservoir that collects rainwater, but then we still have to treat it. Over the years we have developed a lot of skills to handle water.’ Malta is a curious place. The British military are long gone but on the streets English vies with Maltese, while bars offer breakfast fry-ups and John Smith’s smoothflow, plus lap-dancers from Eastern Europe; highly prominent branding for Farsons’ bestselling lager Cisk as well as intermittent signs for its Hop Leaf Pale Ale salvage local pride.
This sense of the Anglo-Saxon heritage and history is also keenly visible at the imposing brewery: the copper mash tuns and art deco frontage wouldn’t be out of place in the UK. Meanwhile, Cisk is joined in Farsons’ portfolio by bottled and nitro-keg versions of Hop Leaf Pale Ale, Blue Label mild and Lacto Milk Stout. However, step outside and take a stroll around the 65,000m2 site and you will see palm trees and the vision from the vertigo inducing gantry above the massive family of cylindrical fermenters is of dense clusters of flat-roofed sandy-coloured square buildings, which wouldn’t be out of place in North Africa. When the brewery was built in the late 1940s it was surrounded by fields and old photos make it look like it was built in the middle of a desert. The Farrugia family have been in charge since the 1920s, when Lewis Farrugia swapped flour milling for brewing. His son, Louis Farrugia, takes up the story: ‘the price of bread had gone up, there were riots in the streets and the flour-making families were blamed for the rise. There were riots in Valetta and our flourmill was burnt down. My father, who was not even 20, was studying architecture but he had a sense for a business opportunity. He realised that Reading brewers Simonds, who were the major suppliers to the garrison, were importing all the beer. He persuaded his father, my grandfather, they should not rebuild the flour mill and build a brewery instead.’ This was such an instant success that Simonds became concerned about market share: ‘They sent two directors over, who visited my father’s brewery, which made ales, and the island’s other, Malta Export, then noted for its lagers. They were very impressed with Farrugia and Simonds Farsons was formed in 1929.’ After World War II, Malta Export joined up and Simonds Farsons Cisk was born (the association with Simonds ended in 1986); today the company is largely family owned and run and backed by the diversified Farsons group. Their main trade has always been on the island, with the presence of the British forces and then tourists ensuring a steady demand for ales. Up until the 1980s, ales were the main sellers, but have since slumped to 13% of production. This has left Cisk as bestseller, with the brand at the heart of Farsons’ current export drive; it’s a fresh, zesty, lemony lager with a surprisingly bitter finish (26 IBUs) thanks to the use of Magnum hop pellets; it has a slightly bittersweet character reminiscent of Lowenbrau’s Octoberfest beer, though it is a moderate 4.2% compared to the festbier’s 6%. ‘People know it,’ says Farrugia, ‘they go into a bar and say “give me a lager” and that means Cisk.’ The current brewery was built in 1948 when the surrounding countryside was near desert. ‘After the war,’ recalls Farrugia, ‘my father ran a brewery in Tripoli and it was very successful. He used the profits to build here. It was an enormous investment for then. The site was chosen because it was in the centre of Malta and they were also good water channels from nearby Mdina.’
Now, there are changes afoot, not only with the brewery’s export drive for Cisk (pronounced ch-isk), but also upgrades and updates in the production process. They are showing their faith in the future with a series of developments and investments. A new soft drinks facility is being built for their own brand, as well as a new logistics centre, where 10,000 pallets will be stored. The latter, according to Farrugia, ‘will help improve the quality of how we stock our products because it will keep our beer cool during the summer when temperatures can reach 35/40?c.’ As for cost the sum of £16 million is mentioned, though just as with water supply Farsons are well-organised. A new brewhouse is also planned and expected to come on stream in 2011, with the old one being turned into a museum. According to Herriot-Watt trained head-brewer Eugenio Caruana, the cost is expected to be in the region of £10 million, but nothing has been finalised yet. Brewing is seasonal with Farsons, ‘the sun is the brewer’s best salesman,’ laughs the genial Caruana. The main production period is from May-August, when brewing is a 24-hour operation during the week. The brewlength is 225/250 hl, with last year’s output being 120,000 hl. As well as their own brands, Farsons brew Carlsberg lager and bottle Budweiser for Anheuser-Busch; this is tankered over from Italy. With their loyal following for Cisk and contract work, it could be easy for Farsons to settle back and relax; the beer market in Malta is worth 180,000 hl annually and Farsons have approximately 60% of the total production. They used to have 96%, but then their export arm does another 15% of the market. However, an open market means more imported brands, to which they could lose ground. Hence the export drive.
Their beers have been sent abroad before, with the US, the UK and Australia the main destinations, but there hasn’t been a dedicated department in the brewery dealing with export sales until now. Stephen Sultana leads the International Business Development team and is bullish about their plans: ‘we want to build up the business in the UK and elsewhere. We have a good story. It’s unusual to find a brewery in the Mediterranean with a mixture of Germanic and English brewing heritage.’ The board is committed to expansion and Cisk hopes to ride the wave of UK interest in imported speciality beers. I don’t think it’s an export-or-die situation, more likely the company’s reaction to the changed trading patterns since the country’s accession to the EU and possibly even Louis Farrugia’s desire to leave some monument to his time in charge. Nearest neighbours are not forgotten either. The company have invested in an Italian water business near Venice, while the market for Cisk in the south is being developed; Farsons also produce a strong 9% lager XS for Italy. The investments in the next few years are considerable for a company of this size, but they show a willingness to innovate and interest new consumers. Branded glasses, an even spread of sponsorship, including the Maltese rugby team, the Farsons Great Beer Festival and various other events, and new products also show a willingness to engage with the market. During my visit, I was presented with Cisk Excel, a new low-carb version of Farsons’ flagship beer, due for imminent release. Past developments have been beers flavoured with lime, cola, blackcurrant, but as everyone seems to be a bit vague about them, I can only surmise that they weren’t too successful. ‘The brewery has always been good at reading the signs of the times,’ says Caruana, ‘we are always capable of coming up with new products. We see what the bigger breweries are doing and see what we can do.’ In the meantime, as the sun still shines, if anyone knows how to do a raindance, please get on the first flight to Malta.
Tasting notes Cisk, 4.2%
Other beers the brewery produce include a super-strong 9% lager called XS for the Italian market: this has a fiery alcoholic character and a slight sweetness; there is also Hop Leaf Pale Ale (3.8%) and Hop Leaf Extra (5%), both of which are in nitro-keg and bottle, and the 3.3% mild style Blue Leaf.
|
