Latest Reviews

Double Dry Hopped pseudoSue
Toppling Goliath
Modus Vivendi
Wild Beer Co.
Spaceman
Brewfist

Recent Articles

Shameless
Craft brewer sellouts become as tone-deaf and underhanded as their new overlords. Great Taste Eve
Check out the burgeoning Madison beer scene the night before the best fest in country. Good Beer Makes Good Conversation
The effects of drinking beer worth talking about. The Beers of Walmart
The largest retailer in the world now has its own line of beers. Our Take on the Lagunitas-Heineken Deal
Fuck Lagunitas. archives »

Beer Reviews

Grey Lady Ale

Cisco Brewers
Nantucket Island, MA
USA
http://www.ciscobrewers.com/

Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
ABV: 5.0%

Rings’s Rating:
   (Recommended)


Comments:
I first visited Cisco Brewery about 15 years ago, on my first foray to the island of Nantucket. It was a great little place, typical of the new microbrewery craze, with a selection of “light, red and dark beer,” and built in an old barn and distributed in growlers and bombers to tourists and locals alike on the island. We walked to the place, sat outside and quaffed a few pints before waddling back to our rented house. I even secured a sweatshirt on my visit, which became a favorite for several years.

Flash forward a few years and the place has evolved, having weathered the challenges of an island brewery where everything from ingredients to customers must be shipped in. The enterprise now includes a restaurant, vineyard and distillery to compliment the original barley pop selection of my visit. The beer selection has widened a bit as well, noticeably beyond the standard ales of yesteryear – in fact, their seasonal lineup is huge - and distribution runs into a dozen states.

Today, I sampled Grey Lady Ale, named for the often foggy island upon which it is brewed. This is described as a Belgian-style Wit, although it is definitely an Americanized version thereof. Deep straw in color, it pours with a thin head and the first sip reveals a noticeable herbal hoppy nose, perhaps indicating dry hopping. Light and spicy, there is only a faint whiff of the expected fruitiness. Instead, this is more of a spicy little pale ale with a little estery twist.

To borrow their original slogan from my old sweatshirt, “it’s nice beer if you can find it” and a solid three mugs.


Reviewed by Rings on November 22, 2010.

Drinkin’ And Thinkin’

Beer Dorks News

Want to know how healthy the craft beer industry is? As always, look to Portland. Craft pioneer Bridgeport announces sudden closure, adding to a growing list of PDX casualties. Did Anheuser-Busch Chicago offer their shit beer to Cody Parkey before his missed field goal? Because that may explain why he "accidentally" biffed it. Chicago now has the most breweries of any city in the country. Other things Chicago has the most of: murders, mobsters, and Ditkas. Trying to spin it positive, BA releases end of year graphic. Only 5% growth in the craft sector when nearly 1000 new breweries opened? That's a collapse waiting to happen. R.I.P. Tallgrass... another casualty as the regional/national craft beer market continues to get squeezed. Wait... Constellation Brands cut all of the Ballast Point and Funky Buddha sales staff? They merged it with their Corona/Modelo staff?? We're SHOCKED!!! Pizza Beer founder crying about failure of company, blames everyone else. Reminder, the beer tasted like vomit. Try having better ideas or making better products so you're not a failure. It's Bud Light so doesn't really matter, but we expect this beer to be sitting around for awhile. Indiana brewery to open with controversial beer names to "get the conversation going". Translation: taking advantage of serious issues for free publicity. Hundreds of amazing beers in Wisconsin and the Cubs took back the one everyone drinks just because it exists and people have heard of it. How fitting...