Bob Egan may be the funniest guy in Chicago beer. I probably spent more time during our interview laughing than asking any meaningful questions. He also loves Vander Mill. Before the recorder was even switched on, we were talking about the cider making process, the future of the category and whether or not the cider scene will ever look like the beer scene does now. We got to our five questions over Vander Mill ciders at one of Bob’s favorite spots, Skylark.
WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING
I’m drinking Vander Mill hard apple Cider. All Michigan apples. Semi-sweet dry cider. It’s definitely not that sweet cider that will give you a stomach ache and make your teeth hurt. It’s very lightly back-sweetened. We’ve got a press that I’m pretty sure has German U-boat parts in it… it doesn’t break.
As far as apples go, this is primarily Jonathan, Golden delicious apples and kind of dealers choice after that, like Gala, Ida, Macintosh and Northern Spy. At the end of the day, cider is just fermented juice so what we’re doing is very close to wine making.
