Minister of Finance, The Hon Dr Tonio Fenech this morning visited the new Brewhouse project currently underway at Simonds Farsons Cisk plc.

Construction work on the €12.5 million new Brewhouse started in July 2010 and consists of a new Brewhouse, new Malt Handling Tower, Storage for Raw Materials, Rain Water Reservoir, Quality Control laboratories, and offices for technical staff.

The new Brewhouse will provide state-of-the-art technology to further improve the current brewing process and aims to be more efficient and versatile, leading to further improvements in product quality and decreased production costs. The project also incorporates energy saving measures namely energy recovery systems, natural ventilation and energy saving lighting. Savings are also expected from automated malt handling and better yields.

The plant includes Silos for Malt Storage, Malt Intake and Discharge, Malt Milling, five main brewing vessels and wort cooling, in-place cleaning system, water tank pumps, instrumentation and an automation system. The plant is being installed by Krones, a leading global supplier of plant equipment specialising in the beverage industry, whilst the construction, internal and external finishes, and building services, are being carried out by local contractors.

Most of the equipment was delivered to the site at the beginning of October 2011 and this is currently being installed.

Mr Louis Farrugia, Chairman of the Farsons Group, commented, “We are nearing completion of this very important investment that has a vision of long term sustainability of the brewery, and the indications are that we will complete this project on time and within budget. The project management team responsible for this project is made up of in house experts who are Maltese nationals and this makes us even more proud of our achievements.”

The project is scheduled to be completed in May 2012.