Cisco Brewers - Grey Lady

Grey Lady is Cisco's take on the Belgian witbier (white beer) style, so as we expect it pours a moderately hazy, light straw color capped by a bright white head. Brewed typically with citrus peel and spices, especially coriander, along with highly-expressive Belgian yeast, witbiers can be quite complex in both aroma and flavor, and this one is no exception. In the highly fragrant aroma, expect bright and bold notes of orange and coriander to create a lovely citric character, underpinned by some wheaty notes and mild earthy hops, and joined by a variety of other subtle spices (which may be due to actual spices or phenolic yeasty notes). These notes aren't shy on the palate either. Expect the lightly tart wheat to merge nicely with the complementary citrus character, while supporting touches of clove and big notes of ginger come forth to offer even more interest. Though full of flavor, the beer maintains a light body, and with the mild acidic zing it's quite the refreshing brew - as we expect for the style. Try this pretty Grey Lady with some shrimp tossed with rice noodles in an Asian ginger sauce spiked with minced serrano pepper. Cheers!

Cisco Brewers was founded when homebrewers Randy & Wendy Hudson crossed paths with Dean & Melissa Long, the founders and owners of Nantucket Vineyard. Wendy had gained experience homebrewing with friends in California, and in 1992 she met Randy after moving back to the island. Intuitively she knew Randy would be a great brewer, so she bought him a brew kit. As he started brewing, he found that his experience working at a local bakery gave him a certain instinct for working with yeast and grain, so after one batch using malt extract, Randy left the guidebook behind and converted a rarely used pasta roller into a grain mill. He developed new recipes that not only he enjoyed, but impressed Wendy too. It was a match made in beer heaven.

Around this time Randy and Wendy met the Longs, who had established Nantucket Vineyard on the western half of the island back in 1981. It was a fortuitous encounter; because the Longs needed help at the winery, and the Hudsons needed a home, Randy and Wendy moved in to a loft above the winery. Eventually, the Hudsons made the decision to start selling beer, and Cisco Brewers was born. Initially, their entire “nano-brewery” as Wendy refers to it existed almost entirely outside in the Longs’ backyard. In 1996 they met Jay Harman, another aspiring brewer who had wanted to establish a brewery on the island until he discovered the Hudsons had beaten him to it. So Jay joined Cisco to help run the operation, and Dean had a new building constructed to house both the growing brewery and winery operation in 1996.

For more information, visit them at www.ciscobrewers.com or call (508) 325-5929.