Israel has always been recognized as a “non-beer” country. There was one big brewery in the whole country, Tempo, which produced several types of beer.

With the beginning of the second Aliyah of the 90s, the population of the country increased dramatically. All the more so because people who love this wonderful beverage began to arrive. Due to the changes in the alcohol consumption market, Coca Cola decided to build its brewery in Israel.

The choice was Carlsberg, an international beer concern. Carlsberg” and “Tuborg” beer began to be imported to Israel, gradually accustoming Israelis to the wonderful Danish beer. At the same time, we began to build their own brewery “Carlsberg”. One of the criteria for choosing a place for the new brewery was the source of water appropriate for this beer. It turned out to be the underground reservoir of Shikma in the south of the country. They chose a site in the city of Ashkelon, not far from the reservoir, and began construction.

The plant was designed according to the latest technology. The German company Steinecker completed the construction in record time.

David Yogev: Carlsberg will be built here!

At that time, there were no ready brewing specialists in the country. And those who were, were already working in a competing company. Therefore, Carlsberg began to train its own and teach them the unique technology. The first recruitment was made personally by the chief technologist of the brewery Gad Greenbaum and the director of the brewery David Yogev, and one of the obligatory conditions was a true love for beer. We studied the brewing equipment according to drawings, assembled it together with Germans, and studied the technology with supervisor from Danish Carlsberg.

First brew. The emotion is unbelievable. We started at 10 am and finished at 8 pm. The lighting in the hall was not ready. It started to get dark, we had to look for lamps in the darkness. The programmers were fixing small bugs as they went along. Paul, the official supervisor from the Denmark, required that absolutely every little detail be followed – after all, it was the first brew! Finally, it happened! The first wort is brewing! This day now we celebrate that was the birthday of the brewery. Though for me, the day when I took the first sip of unfiltered beer from that very brew No1, they were no less memorable.

First brew report: title

Carlsberg first brewers: Emil Malter, Rafael Agaev, Arkady Shenker, Jacob Gadian

Then there were other dates. On March 16, the first bottle was filled, then the barrel filling line was started. Various juices started to be produced, but in the memory will always remain that very important day of the first brew.

First bottle tasting! Yigal Elisha, David Yogev, our rabbi, Shlomo Gaziani, Paul (supervisor from the Denmark)

P.S. In the last few years we have regularly celebrated the birthday of our brewery – the day of the first brew. For this day I try to brew exclusive beer with original labels (the design is made up by me personally). You can view them in the Photo Album.

P.S. And here are some photos from the time when we were young and beautiful! From my personal archive.