Chicagoist's Cider Of The Month: Vander Mill's Ginger Peach

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Sep 12, 2014 8:40PM

This month, we've turned our attention to our neighbors to the Northeast for our cider selection.

This ginger peach cider comes to us from Vander Mill up in Spring Lake, Michigan. It pours a deep gold color in the glass and we pick up a little peach pulp on the nose. On the palate, this one is incredibly crisp up front and offers a nice pop of acidity. The peach juice they add kicks in towards the middle, which comes across as incredibly quenching, and while there is a touch of residual sugar the ginger juice (yes, they juice the ginger!) pokes its head out towards the backend and lingers on the finish. It's certainly more complex than a lot of other ciders out there, but all of these flavors and ingredients are balanced very well. At 6.9% alcohol content Ginger Peach is definitely a cider that could sneak up on you if you don't pace yourself, because it's just downright delicious.

Different ciders offer up a lot of interesting food pairings on their own, whether you're working with something crisp and refreshing or something funky and yeast-driven like you'll find in Normandy, France or Basque Country, Spain. With the addition of ginger and peach though, Vander Mill has made something that plays along very nicely in a lot of scenarios. The sweetness of the peach juice begs for anything you can slather in BBQ sauce, whether it's ribs, pulled pork or chicken. If you ask us, though, the zippy character that the ginger brings to the table makes this a force to be reckoned with if you're picking up Chinese or Thai food. You probably couldn't do much wrong if you tried it with dessert either. Peach cobbler, anyone?

Ginger Peach Cider is available on draft and in 16 oz. tall-boy cans. Check beermenus.com to see where you can crack some open this weekend.