# Malta

Country page of DA Caps, a collection of beer bottle caps. Web page: https://dacaps.imcoll.com/country/mt/info

- Official name: Republic of Malta
- Local name: Repubblika ta' Malta
- Caps in the collection: 45 (https://dacaps.imcoll.com/country_caps/126)
- Brands: 22

## Beer in Malta

Beer reached Malta with the British. H & G Simonds of Reading, the brewer of the Hop Leaf ales, had been shipping beer to the islands since 1875 to satisfy the garrison, and opened a branch in Valletta in 1890. The first beer brewed on the islands came in 1928 from L. Farrugia & Sons, "Farsons", a family firm of millers and makers of industrial gas. The architect Lewis V. Farrugia built the brewery at Ħamrun, near Valletta, with second-hand machinery from a disused plant in Ancona, Italy. Farsons Pale Ale was launched on 19 April 1928; its label, drawn by Edward Caruana Dingli, showed the statue of Neptune, and Farsons beers became known as il-birra tal-Ġgant, "the giant's beer".

The first lager came from a neighbour. In 1928 Scicluna's Bank, run by Marquis John Scicluna, took over the Malta Export Brewery, which held a temporary exclusive licence for Pilsner and Munich-style lagers, and in 1929 the brewery launched Cisk Munchener. Farsons traces the name Cisk to the nickname Iċ-Ċisk of the banker Giuseppe Scicluna, a local mispronunciation of "cheques", which his bank had introduced to the island; it does not link the name to the Czech lands. L. Farrugia & Sons merged with Simonds in 1929 as Simonds Farsons Ltd, and in 1948 the two brewers joined as Simonds Farsons Cisk Ltd. Work on a new brewery at Mriehel began in 1946 under Lewis V. Farrugia; the Art Deco plant, sited over artesian wells, was inaugurated in 1950, and its ales were fermented in open squares until 1998.

Simonds became part of Courage in the 1960s and its Hop Leaf brands vanished in Britain, but Hopleaf Pale Ale and Blue Label are still brewed in Malta, with Lacto, a milk stout. Farsons took the Carlsberg licence in 1978, became agent for Budweiser in 1989 and in 1995 became the first private company listed on the Malta Stock Exchange. Cisk Excel, Malta's first low-carbohydrate beer, followed in 2007. A 12.5 million euro brewhouse, the third since 1928, was inaugurated in 2012 and the old one was decommissioned in 2013; in 2023 the 1950 building reopened as The Brewhouse, with restored copper kettles, a visitor experience and offices. Chairman Louis A. Farrugia says Farsons once held 95 per cent of the market and no longer does.

Craft beer is recent. Lord Chambray was set up as a company in September 2013 and began brewing in June 2014 at the Gozitana Agricultural Village in Xewkija, Gozo; the D'Imperio family founded it with the Italian brewer Andrea Bertola, and it is described as Malta's first craft brewery. Tad Smith, an American investor, became a shareholder in 2022. Stretta Beer started in 2016 and is partly brewed abroad under contract. The Brew, a brewpub on the Sliema waterfront, opened in October 2016. Huskie Craft Beer began in 2017 in a quarry warehouse at Qrendi, and TOBCo, The Other Brewery Co., opened in June 2025 at Jetties Wharf in the Grand Harbour.

For the year to 31 January 2025 Farsons reported beverage revenue of 101.8 million euros and started building a returnable-packaging facility at Mriehel. Its food business was spun off in 2025 into Quinco Holdings, whose shares went to Farsons shareholders registered on 30 September 2025, and Michael Farrugia was named to become chief executive on 1 July 2026. The 2025 half-year results speak of a growing presence in Ghana and Australia.

Sources:
- [Farsons: Timeline (2025)](https://www.farsons.com/en/timeline)
- [Brewery History Society Wiki: Simonds Malta Brewery](https://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php/Simonds_Malta_Brewery)
- [University of Malta: The Farsons Experience (Michael Farrugia)](https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/16510/1/The%20Farsons%20Experience.pdf)
- [Wikipedia: Simonds Farsons Cisk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simonds_Farsons_Cisk)
- [Protz on Beer: The Beers Of Malta (2011)](https://protzonbeer.co.uk/features/2011/12/01/the-beers-of-malta)
- [BusinessNow.mt: Brewing success for a century, the story behind Farsons (2023)](https://businessnow.mt/brewing-success-for-a-century-the-story-behind-farsons/)
- [BusinessNow.mt: Industry ABCs, Beer in Malta (2023)](https://businessnow.mt/industry-abcs-beer-in-malta-an-industry-brimming-with-growth-potential/)
- [Simonds Farsons Cisk: Annual Report 2018](https://www.mfsa.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/100072-SFC-Annual-Report-2018.pdf)
- [Farsons: results for the year to 31 January 2025 (The Business Picture)](https://thebusinesspicture.com/?p=2964)
- [Farsons: half-year results, 49m euro shareholder return and next CEO (2025)](https://www.farsons.com/news-and-updates/6/farsons-reports-growth-announces-49m-shareholder-return-and-names-next-ceo)
- [Food and Wine Gazette: The story of Lord Chambray (2014)](https://www.foodandwinegazette.com/1322)
- [Guide Me Malta: Tad Smith joins Gozo's craft beer scene with Lord Chambray investment (2024)](https://www.guidememalta.com/en/cheers-former-sotheby-s-ceo-tad-smith-joins-gozo-s-craft-beer-scene-with-lord-chambray-investment)
- [Guide Me Malta: five Maltese breweries (2022)](https://www.guidememalta.com/en/big-on-beer-these-five-maltese-breweries-are-bound-to-quench-your-thirst)
- [MaltaToday: the rise of Maltese craft beer (2017)](https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/83302/looking_back_at_2017__two_pints_and_a_packet_of_krips_the_rise_of_maltese_craft_beer)
- [Ferment: Huskie Craft Beer (2025)](https://beer52.com/ferment/article/1818/huskie-craft-beer-awards)
- [Ferment: Malta Craft Brewery, The Other Brewery Co. (2025)](https://www.beer52.com/ferment/article/2030/viva-malta)
- [Wikipedia: History of Malta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Malta)
- [Wikipedia: Hospitaller Malta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitaller_Malta)
- [Wikipedia: Crown Colony of Malta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Colony_of_Malta)
- [Wikipedia: Flag of Malta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Malta)

## Breweries (3)

- [Lord Chambray Ltd.](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3115.md) — 7 caps, 2014–
- [Brewery Simonds Farsons Cisk PLC](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1438.md) — 37 caps, 1928–
- [The Brew Bar & Grill](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/5062.md) — 1 cap, 2016–