When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Being in Malta myself, I drink as the locals do, which means Cisk Lager (pronounced with CH rather than with C). This brand is literally everywhere. Served in almost every bar, most of the beach kiosks, cafés, restaurants… Yet I struggled looking for a draught one. “Have the canned one, it is the best,” told me all the Maltese I hang around with. So I did. Then I got a bottled one and finally a draught one. You usually need to look for an Irish, English or even German bar to get it. Not surprisingly, the draught one tasted the best by far.
Both the canned and bottled one can be bought for 1-1.8 euro (sometimes plus 0.2 extra for a cooled one) in a store and for 2-3 euro in common bars and drinking places. The draught one ranges from 3 to 5 euro, at least at the places I tried it. As a Czech, I would say that the beer is way overpriced. As somebody who travels across Europe, I consider it really cheap. For a pint/half a litre – in many countries, beer is served in 0.25 or 0.33 glasses and bottles for even more money.
In the Maltese ubiquitous heat, Cisk is very refreshing. And a bit tricky, drink two for lunch and you’ll fall asleep on the beach later on and sunburn yourself badly. However, tasting it on an evening reveals some flaws of this lager. Malta has almost no natural sources of fresh water, nor is it famous for growing hops and barley – It would have been a wine country if only the soil was a bit more fertile. The lack of keen domestic ingredients results in a drink that we usually call “eurobeer” in Czech. A narrow-tasting lager with no distinc flavours, neither bitter nor hoppy. Even in case of the draught one, its foam reminds of an ale.
The Maltese are not actually beer people, my favourite beverage was brought to the island from abroad, especially by the Brits during last two centuries. Cisk is a nice choice for cooling down a bit, yet it shall not be a reason to come to Malta. In the evenings, I usually prefer some of the imported English or Irish beers.
AS the #beersaturday is sort of a challenge, I would like to invite @petrvl in. Check out the last @detlev #beersaturday post and write down something about your favourite (or even the least favourite for this purpose) beer. Cheers!