SpringsLicker (4048) reviewed Summer of Lager from Cisco Brewers 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Golden color with a tall creamy white head. Light sweet honey aroma. Lightly malty flavor with some hops that come in at the end. Needs a bit more depth and body.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Noogfest Hazy deep amber that carries a rich malt and hop aroma. Good fruity flavor. I thought this one was a bit thin bodied but otherwise a decent barleywine.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Sankaty Light Lager from Cisco Brewers 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
2005 bottles (4 pack) consumed 6/11/05. Pours a very deep brass-gold colored body, clear and with, surprisingly, not an intense amount of head. Still a good amount of white head, but it’s not frothing over and keeping you from pouring the whole bottle. But then, it’s less of a surprise when you see the reason, the beer is filtered. Whatever, that’s a light beer, I don’t hold it against them. There is light lacing, though. Aroma shows sweaty hay and bread like pale malt, bits of sugary dough and a hint of earthy, lightly bitter hops. Flavor is quite sweet, surprisingly, I didnt realize this was only 3.8 abv, and it dosent show, in that it is not watery and bland. Far from it, in fact, as this still has a lot of house character, that sort of minerals and funky yeast character of the brewery. Sweet and lightly sugary, it has very low bitterness. The body is medium though, and it does get a bit thin towards the end. But the mouthfeel is not overcarbonated, just sort of round and there. Interesting, and not at all a watery, crappy light beer. But I didnt expect that, anyways.
SpringsLicker (4048) reviewed Moor Porter from Cisco Brewers 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Thanks to ClarkVV for this! Huge head of light brown creamy foam. Dark brown color in the body with lots of red highlights. Aroma is strongly of powdered cocoa and vanilla. Lightly sweet from the start to the finish with a long lasting cocoa flavor. The dry dusty palate keeps it from being overly sweet and makes this one a very pleasant Porter worth seeking out.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Oleana 3C Ale from Cisco Brewers 20 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
A "collaboration" between Cisco and Oleana produced this hoppy Belgian IPA/saison. Comes in 750mL bottles for $12 a bottle at the restaurant on Hampshire St, near Inman Square in Cambridge.
Bottle is quite carbonated, as all Cisco beers, but does not gush. Off-white/cream colored head is full and fluffy, atop a deep copper-golden, unfiltered body. Great retention and lacing. Aroma, after the head dies down a bit, and the beer warms, is quite expressive of light yeast, cardamon and some light herbal/orange hops. Bits of pale malt also noted. Flavor begins with a full amount of malt, plenty of live, fresh yeast and a bit of cardamon and coriander. The coriander is drowned out more by the hops however, and does not seem dominant. Malt provides a strong backbone. Light dough, honey, almonds and a spicy, lightly bitter finish, quite dry and a bit bready. Medium-full body, yet quite drinkable, not overspiced. So good, had to order another bottle.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Captain Swains Extra Stout from Cisco Brewers 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
2003 or 2002 bottle (not sure). We start out with the typical drill: open, let breath for about 5 hours, pour in glass, stir for a minute or so. . .Yes, it does get old. Yes, Cisco beers are overcarbonated, but it is not fair to judge them as so. If you just let it breath for a while, you can see the wonderful qualities these unpasteurised, unfiltered beers possess. Huge yeastiness on this one. You can feel it seep from the aroma. Oily, astringent roast, bitter black malt. Dark, opaque black beer, with dark mahogany brown tinges on the edges. Mountains of off-white foam. Bitter, with huge dark chocolate and yeasty wininess. This beer is a monster of bitterness, oiliness and unrelenting yeast. I appreciate that, but all the same, I could use some sweetness. Light coffee, dry barley roast, unmalted roasted barley, it’s all here. A slow sipper and a huge, uncompromising beer. Ultimately too dry, and without the vinousness and smooth chocolate that the Moor porter utilizes. Still, a wonderfully made beer, just needs some work.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Thanks to my Secret Santa and ClarkVV who both sent me bottles of this. This needed to be poured into a pitcher to settle down, nothing but head for a long while. Black with lots of lasting tan head. Roasty aroma comes through after a bit of warm up and the flavor is nicely roasty with a spicy almost licorice quality. Smooth and medium bodied. Good average Stout that hides it’s alcohol rather well.
jgb9348 (11828) reviewed Captain Swains Extra Stout from Cisco Brewers 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6
Pitch black body with a dense off-white head. Aroma of paint (as jon mentions), roasted malt, cherries, coffee and a bit of chocolate. Medium-bodied; Strong roasty malt flavour up front with a cherry tartness-wierd! Very light bodied for the style, and the flavour lasts only a short period of time. Aftertaste is mild and roasty, also sweet and tart from the cherries. A wierd and complex beer, but not the best fo the style at all. Overall, good to try, but i’d rather have Whale’s Tale instead of this. I sampled this 75 cL bottle purchased at Chevy Chase Wine & Liquors in Washington, D.C. on 14-November-2004 with good friend jon[r888710].
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Harvest Ale from Cisco Brewers 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
2004 draught @ Redbones. Appearance is quite lovely for the style, dark orange/copper, with some auburn hints and yellow/golds around the edges. Large foamy white head typical of Cisco. Aroma of wet, soily, green hops, low in bitterness and quite earthy (something like fuggles), also a hint of malt, lightly sweet. Flavor starts out with a sweet, juicy malt creaminess, followed by a big hops flavor that is quite the opposite of what I was expecting. No huge unbalanced bitterness, just a good floral hops flavor, lightly bitter, with the malt easily standing up to the hops. Strange yeast and malt notes through the middle, almost a vegetable quality that I cant put my finger on. Carbonation, is quite good for Cisco, I guess being on tap helps it, as it is lively, but not sharp and creates no thinning on the body. A very flavorful, medium-full bodied ale with tons of malt and fresh hops. 7/5/7/4/15
2004 bottle sampled 3/6/05 Well wouldn’t you know it, another hopeful that I brought to the tasting ended up sucking. Perhaps draught Cisco beers are ultimately better, and it would make sense that it was better having it fresh on draught, but still, this bottle is barely 6 months old and it already is thin/oxidized somewhat, and has strange spoiled fruit notes. The green hops still come through fairly pleasantly, but the body is a sad, sad memory of what I had on draught. A watery, thin mess of a palate. 7/5/6/2/11
jgb9348 (11828) reviewed Whale's Tale Pale Ale from Cisco Brewers 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Great copper coloured body with a dense off-white head and some ruby highlights. Aroma of light hops, wheat, corn, bubblegum & hot dogs-YES, HOT DOGS! Medium to Light-bodied; Mild malt flavour with hops and some citrus following up. Aftertaste left bland, only a small amount of hops bitter up the palate. Overall, a not-so-good APA, but decent to try & a treat in Georgetown. I sampled this 75 cL bottle purchased from Dean & Deluca in Georgetown (Washington) D.C. on 27-August-2004 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.