Uncle John’s Cider Mill in St. Johns, Michigan.

Here’s one for the road-trippers and harvest-season romantics: we ducked off US-127 and spent a slow, delicious afternoon at Uncle John’s Cider Mill in St. Johns, Michigan. I grabbed a brisket sandwich, Kellie went pulled pork, and we split a flight the way couples have negotiated dessert forks since time began. The lineup? Apple Blueberry, Deep Roots, Raspberry, and a pour of Cranberry Wine. We left with a growler of Apple Blueberry for the cabin and a pecan pie to gift our hosts (and, let’s be honest, ourselves).

What follows is the sensory play-by-play, plus a couple of fun facts that make this place more than a cider stop—it’s a living slice of Michigan farm history.

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A mill that feels like a little festival

If you’ve never been, Uncle John’s is more than a single barn and a cash register. The sprawling farm hub stacks experience on experience: a historic cattle barn turned working cider mill, a taproom for hard ciders, wines, and spirits, a gift shop, the Pie Barn (dangerously persuasive), and—when the season hits—wagon rides, a corn maze, pumpkin patch, gemstone mining, a farm trail, kid-friendly parks, and live music. It’s agritainment in the best sense: you come for cider, stay for a wander, and leave with a full trunk and bigger plans for next weekend. 

Inside the main barn, it’s all warm wood, cinnamon in the air, and the hum of people who’ve decided today is for treats. Uncle John’s story threads through the signage: five generations on the farm, the old cattle barn renovated in the early ’70s to host cider pressing, and a family that kept adding amenities until the place became a mini fall carnival. 

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Lunch: smoke meets orchard

Brisket sandwich (Jason): tender with a tug, a peppery bark that stuck the landing, and just enough sauce to gloss the bread without soaking it. It’s the kind of meat that makes you take smaller bites so the moment lasts.

Pulled pork (Kellie): applewood-friendly—sweet edges, juicy center, and shredded just shy of saucy. Pork + apples is the most Michigan pairing since flannel and Saturday yard work.

We passed plates back and forth like a lazy tennis match and started mapping what to drink with what.

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The flight: four sips, four little stories

Apple Blueberry (6.5% ABV)

This is Uncle John’s most welcoming pour—“sweetest, but not too sweet,” with the orchard’s crisp apple character smoothed by Michigan blueberry juice. On the nose, a true-blue berry pop; on the palate, a plush mid-sip that finishes softer than you’d expect. Pro tip: it pairs surprisingly well with the peppery bark on brisket; blueberry sweetness catches the spice, apple acid tidies the bite. 

Deep Roots (6.5% ABV)

If Apple Blueberry is a friendly wave, Deep Roots is a firm handshake. Built from apples sourced from orchards 50+ years in the ground and heirloom varieties, it smells like green apple and citrus peel and drinks dry-clean with a mineral snap. With pulled pork, the cider’s lean structure trims the richness and lets the smoke speak. (Cider nerd note: you can find Deep Roots listed as a year-round, heritage-leaning blend; it shows up in bottle/draft around the Midwest.) 

Raspberry

Raspberry at Uncle John’s often appears as Raspberry Rosé—a seasonal blush that blends apple cider with fresh raspberry juice. Expect a neat sweet-tart ping that plays right down the center; with barbecue, it does the palate-cleanser trick between bites. If it’s on during your visit, grab it—it tends to be a short-run seasonal. 

Cranberry Wine (11% ABV)

Not a cider, but it belongs in the conversation. Cranberry Wine blends concentrated cranberry with a soft grape base for a sweet-tart blush that tastes like Thanksgiving in a glass. With pulled pork, the bright cranberry zips through the collagen; with brisket, it accentuates the smoke. Also: it’s the kind of bottle that silently disappears in a cabin fridge. 

Flight culture note: Uncle John’s actively leans into flights; the taproom highlights them, and their retail “Flight Box” (Apple, Apple Pear, Apple Cherry, Apple Blueberry) makes a good take-home sampler if you’re building a cabin weekend lineup. 

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Growlers & goodies for the cabin

We filled a growler of Apple Blueberry—because sometimes the best nightcap is the one that tastes like dusk over a field—and grabbed a pecan pie from the Pie Barn, which is a den of temptation: breads, pies, decorated donuts, monster cookies, jams, jellies, honey, syrups, cheeses, jerky…and, yes, cider slushies if you’re living your best fair-day life. If you’re headed to a friend’s cabin, a growler + pie combo is the kind of gift people remember long after the leaves are gone. 

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A short history you can taste

Here’s what gives this place its gravity:

In the early 1970s, John and Carolyn Beck bought the family farm from John’s parents. Wholesale fruit/veg wasn’t cutting it, so they bet the barn on cider and donuts—and the locals showed up. That’s the move that made the mill. 

The name “Uncle John’s” stuck because family pitching in during the early days kept asking, “Uncle John, what do you want me to do?”—a nickname that became a brand. 

In the late ’90s/early 2000s, the next generation—Mike Beck—pushed into hard cider, aided by a Federal Value-Added Agriculture grant. That’s the line from farm cider to the award-winning taproom you sip through today. 

The taproom lives in what used to be the farm’s fruit storage/packing barn; now it’s where you can enjoy a hard cider flight, a glass of wine, or pick up bottles to go. 

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Pairing notes (what worked for us)

Brisket + Deep Roots: The dry, heirloom-driven profile of Deep Roots snaps the fat line and lets smoke bloom without turning heavy. It’s the most “wine-like” of the set, which is why it behaves so politely with barbecue. 

Brisket + Apple Blueberry: Counter-intuitive, but the berry lift hugs the pepper crust; sweetness reads as glaze, not sugar bomb. Save a sip for the last bite. 

Pulled Pork + Raspberry: You want a rinse that resets. Raspberry’s sweet-tart axis cuts through sauce and resets the palate for the next forkful. (When in season.) 

Pulled Pork + Cranberry Wine: Holiday magic in October. The fruit-forward cranberry hugs pork’s savory and salt and feels festive without dessert vibes. 

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Field notes for your visit

Go hungry. Between the Pie Barn and the taproom, you’ll want both hands free to carry things back to the car. (If you see apple bread, don’t hesitate.) 

Make it a half-day. In season, there’s enough to keep a family roaming: wagon rides, live music, kid train, jumping pillow, corn maze, pumpkin patch, and a 5K farm trail. Budget time to sit and sip; flights are better when you’re not watching the clock. 

Take a Flight Box home. If your cabin itinerary includes a sunset porch and a deck of cards, the sampler ensures everyone finds “their” cider, and it travels well. 

Seasonal swings. The Raspberry Rosé is a short-run seasonal; Apple Cranberry tends to run Sept–Feb. If those flavors are on your must-try list, plan your trip accordingly. 

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Two (okay, four) fun facts about Uncle John’s

1. The barn you’re standing in is 100+ years old—it was once a cattle barn before the family converted it into the cider mill you tour today. If you love living history with your donuts, this is catnip. 

2. The mill’s “five generations” claim isn’t a slogan—this is a genuine family operation that grew from a roadside stand into an agritainment anchor for mid-Michigan. 

3. Deep Roots really means what it says: it’s built from apple trees planted at least half a century ago, along with heirloom varieties. You can taste the orchard’s age in that clean, dry finish. 

4. Hard cider at Uncle John’s didn’t happen by accident; a federal value-added agriculture grant helped launch the modern hard-cider line in the early 2000s—one of those behind-the-scenes pivots that turn farm traditions into thriving, modern tasting rooms. 

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What we brought to the cabin (and why)

Growler: Apple Blueberry — It’s crowd-friendly and cabin-compatible: the “sweetest, not too sweet” profile smooths out after a day on the trail, and the blueberry note makes porch sunsets taste like you’re cheating at life. 

Pecan Pie (Pie Barn) — Pie is the universal “we appreciate being here” language, and in a place that turns out breads and pies all day, it feels right to pay homage. Also: reheats like a dream after a night fire. 

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If you only have 60 minutes

1. Grab donuts and a hot spiced cider in the mill.

2. Walk over to the taproom, order a flight (put Deep Roots and Apple Blueberry in the mix). 

3. Pop into the Pie Barn for a pie or apple bread.

4. If it’s weekend/festival time, catch a wagon ride or a song or two of live music before you roll back out. 

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Final take

Uncle John’s is the rare place where lunch, history, and a perfect flight weave together without trying too hard. The brisket and pork sandwiches gave us a savory backbone; the ciders wrote the melody—Apple Blueberry charming and generous, Deep Roots precise and heritage-driven, Raspberry bright and cheeky, Cranberry Wine tart-festive and a little fancy. We arrived hungry and curious; we left with a car that smelled like pie and a growler sloshing softly like a promise that the night wasn’t over yet.

If you’re plotting a fall loop through mid-Michigan, pencil Uncle John’s in ink. And bring extra hands—the Pie Barn has a way of making the word “no” feel hypothetical. 

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Techniques used: Role/Context (travel blogger voice), Zero-Shot + brief CoT (pairing logic), ReAct (web.run for facts & menu details), APE (selection/order of highlights), Structured Narrative (sections), Self-Consistency (cross-checked flavors/seasonality across sources).