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Virtue Cider varieties prep fans for baseball season

By Wesley Coburn

Back for baseball season, Virtue Cider is reintroducing Northcider and Southcider, photo provided by Virtue Cider
Back for baseball season, Virtue Cider is reintroducing Northcider and Southcider, photo provided by Virtue Cider /
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Virtue Cider has two new varieties just in time for the 2020 baseball season.

The new Virtue Cider varieties Northcider and Southcider are prepping Chicago-area baseball fans for the 2020 season, whenever that may be.

The new varieties from the southwest Michigan-based cidery will be available this season at Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox games at Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Field, respectively.

“Northcider and Southcider tie back to our roots in Chicago where I got my start at Goose Island Brewing,” Virtue Cider founder Greg Hall told FoodSided in an email. “I grew up a White Sox fan, but raised my kids on the North Side, so I guess you can me a baseball fan.”

Northcider is a dry-hopped hard cider with a 6.7 percent ABV content, while Southcider is a semi-sweet hard cider with notes of vanilla, with a 5.5. percent ABV content.

After trying both, I preferred the sweeter Southcider, which seemed smoother; the sweetness wasn’t overpowering, either, which was good.

A naturally gluten-free product, the cider from Virtue Cider is made with local apples from neighboring farmers and made with other natural ingredients such as honey or other fruits.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9VIki0AEFP/

In a process very similar to that used for making wine, the apples are hand-pressed and then fermented in aged barrels on the 48-acre farm in Fennville.

“Northcider and Southcider are an homage to the city where I got my start in brewing and also where I originally started Virtue Cider in 2012,” Hall continued. “It’s our own way of saying ‘thank you’ for the many, many years of support and inspiration.”

For residents in the Chicagoland area, Virtue Cider’s Northcider and Southcider are available at Jewel-Osco and other retailers in six-packs of 12-ounce cans and four-packs of 16-ounce cans.

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For more news, analysis and opinion on Cubs and White Sox baseball within the FanSided Network, be sure to check out our sister sites Cubbies Crib, Da Windy City and Southside Showdown.