With Vander Mill’s Spring Lake location reaching full capacity in 2015, a new location for expanded production was sought and found at 505 Ball Ave NE off from Michigan Avenue in Grand Rapids. The new facility and tasting room includes four 350 barrel fermenters allowing for annual production to increase by 5 times the Spring Lake location’s current capacity. With plenty of room for additional expansion, this new location will allow Vander Mill to continue compete not just as a regional hard cider producer but also as one of the top hard cider producers in the nation. In addition to the increased capacity, the new location also doubles as a full kitchen and taproom successfully bringing the cozy, welcoming atmosphere of the Spring Lake location to the Grand Rapids Beer City.

This year’s sold out Vander Fest featured a reconfigured layout from prior years. Gone was the “beer tent” aspect with a more open design putting added emphasis on the food and live music. In addition to the great beer and cider, the new layout benefited early attendees the most as this year’s incredible tap lineup of beer and cider saw some of Vander Mill’s longest lines as this year’s fest progressed into the evening hours. This year’s fest featured one of the most impressive tap lists yet and proved to be worthy of the longer waits. Also new this year was a tented VIP section which featured food, service, and great seats for the live music.