CISK

The brewery behind CISK is Simonds Farsons Cisk Ltd, formed in 1948 when two rival operations finally merged after nearly two decades of competition. The parent company, headquartered in Birkirkara, Malta, is publicly traded on the Malta Stock Exchange and has grown into a sizeable beverage business producing soft drinks and running food franchise operations alongside its core brewing. But CISK remains the flagship.

The range spans several styles: the original Cisk Lager at 4.2% ABV, a lower-strength Excel, a Pilsner, a Premium, and a Strong. The Chill line adds flavoured variants. All are bottom-fermented lagers in the Central European mould, with the classic version often described as crisp and malty with a gentle bitterness.

Cisk 0.0 arrived in 2021, making CISK a relatively recent entrant into the alcohol-free market. It uses the same grain bill and brewing process as the flagship lager, with alcohol removed after fermentation and maturation through a gentle dealcoholisation method intended to preserve the original flavour profile. The result is a light-bodied lager with fruity notes and a soft malty finish. It comes in 33cl cans and 25cl returnable glass bottles, the latter format being distinctly Maltese.

In the UK, CISK is a niche find rather than a supermarket staple. It appears occasionally via specialist importers and European delicatessens, likely appealing to Maltese diaspora communities and beer tourists who encountered it on holiday. For most UK drinkers, Cisk 0.0 is a curiosity rather than a category player, but it is a genuine product from a brewery with nearly a century of heritage behind it.