Greg Hall brings Virtue Cider back to its European-inspired roots
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Greg Hall at his farm in Fennville, Michigan. Photo: Courtesy of Virtue Cider
In 2015, legendary Chicago brewmaster Greg Hall of Goose Island fame sold his craft cider company, Virtue Cider, to Anheuser-Busch InBev. This week, he officially bought it back.
The big picture: Hall wants to bring his beloved Virtue Cider brand back to its roots as an independent, artisanal farmhouse hard cider, far away from the mass-produced, canned versions found on grocery store shelves.
What they're saying: "Cider is where my passion is," Hall tells Axios. "I just see so much opportunity for us to get great products out to people."
Context: Virtue, like its sister craft beer Goose Island, was sold to Anheuser-Busch InBev to scale the products to bigger markets and to more consumers. But Hall says that since COVID, the world of wine and ciders has changed due to direct-to-consumer models.
- "You can't do direct mail with beer or spirits, but you can with wine and ciders," says Hall. "So we don't have to worry about getting distributors in every state, which is huge."
Between the lines: Hall says he started Virtue in 2011 with the hopes of bringing the European cider tradition to the U.S., grouping his products alongside bottles of natural wines, orange wines and farmhouse ciders that are prepared in 750ml bottles.
- Most ciders sold in the U.S. are packaged and sold alongside beer in six-packs of bottles or cans, and Anheuser-Busch InBev focused on selling the six-packs, while the 750ml bottles lagged behind.
- "When we started Virtue, we were focused on doing proper farmhouse cider in a kind of European tradition," Hall says. "If you go over to France, they've been making cider there for a thousand years, and they make it like wine."
Reality check: The move to change course is also driven by market conditions. When Virtue sold in 2015, the hard cider business was booming. Now, craft beer and hard cider companies have seen drastic drops in sales and production as consumers opt for hard seltzers and THC drinks.
- Hall is now focusing on selling his 750ml bottles in wine shops instead of grocery stores. He stopped producing the canned product in November.
The vibe: Hall, the son of Goose Island founder John Hall, made a name for himself in helping to create some top-shelf Goose Island varieties like Sofie, Matilda and Bourbon County Brand Stout, which still attracts beer lovers to Chicago annually from across the globe.
- This is in addition to the better-known brands like 312.
The bottom line: Hall won't miss trying to mass produce his cider. Instead, he's excited about offering the more exclusive, sophisticated product to drinkers.
- "It's great to get back to the brand's roots," Hall says. "There are a lot of chefs who don't have a burger or nachos on their menu, even though they would be tasty and sell well. But that's not what they do."
What's next: Hall and Virtue are unveiling community events and special programs at their southwest Michigan farmhouse in Fennville for 2025.