The Best of Cider Summit Chicago 2016

This year's annual Cider Summit at Navy Pier was bigger and better than ever, expanding to the second floor balcony with a selection of cider cocktails from The Northman, Woodford Reserve and Uncle John's. This year boasted 140 ciders with approximately 10 new Producers since last year's event. We found this year to be supremely enjoyable with very few lines for cider, food or restrooms and ample opportunity to talk with the cider makers themselves. Below is a recap of our "Best of" winners of the event.

Best Dry Cider

Farnum Hill Extra Dry Cider (7.5%)

Best Semi-Dry Cider

EZ Orchards Semi Dry Cider (6.4%)

Best Farmhouse/Wild Fermented Cider

Shacksbury Arlo (6.2%)

Best European/Import Cider

Manoir de Grandouet Cambremer Cidre de Tradition AOP Pays d’Auge (4.5%)

Best Barrel-Aged Cider

Vander Mill Green Mill Barrel-Aged Cyser (6.8%)

Best Fruited Cider

Starcut Ciders Squishy (7.5%)

Seasonal Hard Cider made with Northern Michigan Cherries, tart and dry finish

runner up:

Cider Brothers, Pacific Coast Apple with Wild Cherry

Semi-dry, stone fruit and spice, tastes like cherry pie

Best Newcomer to Chicago

Starcut Ciders (by Shorts Brewing), Elk Rapids, MI

Now available throughout the Chicagoland market

Best Cider Cocktail

The Northman "Ginger Snap"

Few Bourbon Whiskey, Vander Mill Ginger Peach cider, ginger syrup, soda water

Cider Summit view from the balcony

Kim (Hail to the Ale), David (Shacksbury Cider), Craig aka "John Apple" (ABV Chicago)

left: Uncle John's Old Fashion cider cocktail. right: The traditional Spanish long pour.

For more on tasting cider, check out our latest podcast appearance on ABV Chicago, Episode 109 "Cider House Rulez" where we taste 6 ciders from across the US, talk about the cider making process, and share a whole lot of laughs in the process.

Curious about the cider making process or learning more about apple varieties? Take a look at our Amazon book list devoted to Apples & Cider.

Check out your local bottle shops, as the selections of cider continues to grow. Don't see what you're looking for? See if they can request it or email the cideries for availability. The more demand, the better!

Guest Podcast Appearance on ABV Chicago: Episode 109

In preparation for the upcoming Chicago Cider Summit at Navy Pier (February 27th), we join Craig and Ryan of ABV Chicago Podcast series to talk all things cider making and tasting, along with some crazy banter and a lot of laughs. We hope you enjoy it!

Episode 109 – Cider House Rulez

 abvchicagoFebruary 24, 2016Audio

We enter unfamiliar territory on this one by doing our first-ever cider show. Kim Leshinski of Hail to the Ale and MC Johnsen of Worth 1000 Beers join us to educate us on these fermented apple beverages. You’ll learn a lot about how ciders are made, apple varieties, local cider sources (including Broken Nose Cider), heirloom apples, and “the long pour.” We go from “cider stupid” to just plain stupid at times, as the diversions here are frequent and give Craig a good core workout. And Ryan is made to feel stupid by being the only one familiar with Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. Listen and let us be the apple of your…ears?

Click to listen: ABV Chicago Episode 109 – Cider House Rulez

Ciders reviewed:

Farnum Hill Dooryard Cider
Shacksbury Farmhouse
Bantam The Americain
Uncle John’s Apple Hard Cider
Vander Mill Chapman’s Blend 2014
Wandering Aegnus Wanderlust

Fest Review: The Second Annual What the Firk?

By guest contributor MC Johnsen

On Sunday, March 29th, I had the great pleasure of attending What the Firk? Firkin Fest held at Headquarters Beercade in River North. Everything about this fest was unique – the location, the beer offerings, and the ability to speak directly to brewers and reps. 

Headquarters Beercade has wall-to-wall arcade games that are free for unlimited play, from Pac Man to pinball, and even my husband Matt’s favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game. (He jumped up and down like a little boy when he saw it). The games made the whole atmosphere fun and laid back, and gave you a short reprieve from sampling if needed. On top of this, HQ also provided a free buffet of delicious food for all the fest-goers to enjoy. 

The 50 beer offerings were all one of a kind, many of which were dry-hopped or had spicy pepper additions. Two Brothers got super creative and even added blue raspberry warheads and habanero peppers to their popular extra pale ale Sidekick. Metropolitan served a beautiful, crisp lager Heliostat, dry-hopped with subtly spicy and herbal Sterling hops. Some breweries, such as Three Floyds and Off Color, chose to go old school and presented a popular beer of theirs (Zombie Dust and Scurry, respectively) served at room temp from the cask (although, Off Color did claim to have added magic to their cask of Scurry). Having tasted both of these beers on draft and in bottles before, it was interesting to try them in their pure form at room temperature, too. 

Probably my favorite aspect of this fest though, was that a brewer or very knowledgeable rep from each participating brewery stood right beside their cask and explained how the beer was made as you drank it. There were no lines (people opted to play arcade games rather than wait around), so you felt free to stand and chat with them for a few moments before moving on to the next offering. This fest afforded everyone the opportunity to have relaxed conversations with brewers and fellow beer fans alike, because there was absolutely no pressure to keep a line moving. 

My top three favorites were: 

3) Uncle John’s (St. John’s, MI) - Say Uncle: Almost 2 months after attending Cider Summit, I am still entranced by what hard cider has to offer. This one-of-a-kind blend was Uncle John’s first firkin, and first cloudy cider they’ve ever made!  Usually creators of crystal clear ciders, Say Uncle was unpasteurized, unfiltered, and a beautiful cloudy yellow-green color. It was crisp, a tad funky, and refreshing with a not too fruity finish. (6.5%)

2) 5 Rabbit (Bedford Park, IL) – French Oak-Aged Gran Missionario with Fig: Having recently tasted this year’s regular Gran Missionario, the complexity of flavor added by the woody oak added a nice subtle spice, and the extra fig additions rounded this creamy witbeer out with a chewy, juicy, figgy finish. (6.8%)

1) Desthil (Bloomington, IL) – Ta’Gose: Desthil added lime, peppers, and cilantro to this cask of their Wild Sour Series gose Here Gose Nothin.’ These additions cut the typically sour and salty beer with complex, savory qualities that added so much depth. This tasted of lightly sour lemon and lime, coriander, hints of pepper, and had a chewy, bready finish–phenomenal!

I had such a great time at this fest. It was incredibly refreshing to attend one without the frantic scramble to get into line before a keg kicked. I am already looking forward to next year.

MC Johnsen is a professional graphic designer and illustrator based in Chicago, IL. She is also the artist and author behind beer blog Worth a Thousand Beers. In her spare time MC enjoys homebrewing, taking on DIY projects, CrossFit, and binge-watching TV shows on Netflix. Her favorite coffee beverage is an Americano, and she shares a home with her husband Matt and their dog Dallas in Lombard, IL. You can find her on Twitter @worth1000beers.

Fountainhead's How Ya Like Them Apples Event

The folks at Fountainhead are so crazy about cider that they've put together one heck of an event celebrating Cider Con week along side of the cider makers themselves. Come share a few pints with E. Dupont, Tieton Cider Works, Virtue Cider, Vander Mill, Uncle John's, Original Sin, Ace, Farnum Hill and Wandering Aengus Ciderworks. The event starts at 7pm on Wednesday, February 5th.

The tap line up includes:

Farnum Hill Dooryard: New on draft!
Aspall Still Cider: 2nd bar in the United States to tap this!
Original Sin Cherry Tree
Uncle John's Melded
Uncle John's Apple
Virtue Percheron
Vander Mill Puff the Magic Cyser
Vande Mill Chapman's Blend
Tieton Cider Works Dry Hopped
Wandering Aengus Ciderworks Pear

They'll be offering a great selection of bottles and cans as well as some cider based cocktails.

Chef Cleetus and team will be preparing a special menu of cider pairing selections.

Hope to see you there!