Taking Flight
Cape Cod Life / September/October 2016 / Food & Dining, People & Businesses, Recreation & Activities
Writer: Joe O'Shea / Photographer: Dan Cutrona and Jennifer Dow
Taking Flight
Cape Cod Life / September/October 2016 / Food & Dining, People & Businesses, Recreation & Activities
Writer: Joe O'Shea / Photographer: Dan Cutrona and Jennifer Dow
Friendship, beer, and a “really chill” island setting
Cisco Brewers
As part of an Island compound that includes Nantucket Vineyard and Triple Eight Distillery, Cisco Brewers and its sister companies make beer, wine, and other spirits for all to enjoy in what operations manager Tracy Wilde Long calls “a really chill” setting.
“We offer quality, American-made products in a down-to-earth atmosphere,” says Long. “We run a day bar with live music where customers can go outside and enjoy their beverages. We get younger people, older people, landscapers, and lawyers—and don’t forget the dogs. We want everyone to feel welcome and at home here.”
The family-friendly vibe at the company’s headquarters on Bartlett Farm Road isn’t forced, but a natural extension of how the business evolved. When Nantucket Vineyards founders, Melissa and Dean Long, were looking for help as their winery grew in the early 1990s, they had the good fortune to meet Wendy and Randy Hudson, whom they hired to help make wine. The Hudsons moved into the loft above the winery, and an enduring partnership and lifelong friendship was born.
Avid home brewers, the Hudsons made wine during the day and tinkered with beer recipes in their spare time, founding Cisco in 1995. For a time, the operation was run out of the Longs’ backyard. As the businesses grew, expansion plans were hatched and a new winery and brewery were built in the mid-1990s. By the year 2000, the Triple Eight Distillery was launched.
“We’re all about people on Nantucket coming together and doing something cool,” says Long. “We’re all family and friends.”
Joe hails: Try Cisco’s Whale’s Tail Pale Ale!
Cisco Brewers is at 5 Bartlett Farm Road, Nantucket. For more information, visit ciscobrewers.com, or call 508-325-5929.