thumb|An Advertisement for Birra Tirana in downtown Tirana
Malto Brewery is a brewery in Albania. The company sells a pilsener beer under the Birra Tirana brand, named after the capital, Tirana, where the beers are brewed. It was first produced in 1961 by the Kombinati Ushqimor (a state agency). The beer contains 4% alcohol.
Malto Brewery was privatised in 2001. The company used to produce 5,000 tons a year prior to the privatisation, while it is currently producing around 13,000 tons, with exports going to Kosovo and the United States. Birra Tirana accounts for a large percentage of all beers sold in Albania, up to 30% by some accounts, making it one of the most widely distributed products made in Albania.
History
The production of the beer in Albania began in 1938, with a capacity of around 8,000 HL per year. In these years the beer was known only a little bit by Albanians, because the traditional drinks were wine and brandy. After the Second World War, Albania began to build the grocery industry, which was imported generally from the countries of ex-socialist camps.
In 1960 Birra Tirana was constructed as a factory with a capacity 70,000 HL/year, The ten shareholders had 96 percent of the shares, 2% the owner of the terrain and 2% of the workers. With its reorganisation, and the breath, that brought the ten main shareholders, which had a long successful experience with their business, about the alteration of the work mentality and all these followed by business plans and by clear strategy of development, "Birra Tirana" has stated its goal to become the main beer in the Albania market. It is not traded only in Albania, but in Kosovo and America. This leap as consequence of the enlargement of the dimensions of the market, escaping the geographic confines of a strictly Albanian market, abandoning the idea that the market of Birra Tirana should be only Albanian.
The Hysenbelliu Group, led by Irfan Hysenbelliu, became the largest shareholder of the company in 2020.