Hello Nickel Beer Fans!
Our trio of Stouts for St. Patrick’s Day last weekend was very successful – so successful in fact that the Vanilla Bean Stonewall Stout will likely be gone by the end of the day today. But don’t fret – I will be making more of it and I have decided to try the next keg of it on the nitro tap. So yes, there will be nitro Vanilla Bean Stonewall Stout in the near future.
When the Vanilla Bean Stout is gone I will be tapping more of the Apple Pie Ale on nitro. This was a big hit when I first put it on and I am glad that it really does give a different flavor to the beer. I don’t have very much of the Apple Pie nitro either, but I do have nitro kegs of Filthy Paws Porter and Devil’s Copper to tap when it is gone.
Tomorrow, we will be showing the SDSU v. NDSU game which should tip off just after 3 pm. The Aztecs made it a little too close for comfort on Thursday, but hopefully they can grind out another victory. We’ll be able to show other NCAA games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well. If the Aztecs make it to the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday we might just open for the game and do a little Aztecs happy hour. Look for updates about that on our Facebook page.
New Beers
If you have not been by the tasting room in a few weeks, we have the new Hop Heaven Farms IPA on tap (and you need to check out our new jail cell door). It 100% uses hops from Hop Heaven Farms in Bristol City, Oregon. I met the hop grower on a beer trip and managed to get a little bit of Cascade, Chinook and Centennial from him to brew a few beers. I figure each one will be a little different in the hop use while using the same base beer – a 6.5% beer with a little bit of crystal malt color and flavor.
A new batch of the Devil’s Copper is also now on tap. And though not much changed with it, it is a little lighter in color and it has a little more rye malt character. The beer has always had 5% malted rye in it. This time I added a new grain, Crystal Rye Malt, that adds color and caramel flavor along with the distinctive, slightly spicy flavor of rye.
In the fermentors I have new batches of Chinook IPA and Julian Pale Ale along with a brand new beer – Demolition Extra Pale Ale. It is a light-colored 5.8% beer with plenty of SImcoe, Summit and Citra hops. It was brewed to honor the one year anniversary of us starting work on the building (which was April 3rd, 2013). I have been tasting it regularly out of the fermentor (would you expect anything less) and it is tasting amazing. I can’t wait to get it on tap, but that won’t be until the end of the month most likely.
New Hours
We are slowly expanding our hours now that the time change has come. We will now be open until 7 pm on Saturday nights. We are working on expanding the days of the week as well, but that is still a little ways off. Our new hours will be 11:30 am to 6 pm on Friday, 11:30 am to 7 pm on Saturday and 11:30 am to 5 pm on Sunday. I should have more updates on the hours in the next email.
Taste of Julian
Instead of highlighting a single business as I have been doing. I am going to talk about an event that highlights a number of Julian’s great businesses…
We are participating in the Taste of Julian on Saturday, April 12th from 1 pm to 5 pm. It is a tasting tour of Julian that includes restaurants, wineries, Julian Hard Cider and of course Nickel Beer. Everyone provides some sample bites and the majority of the places are right on main street, a few though require a short drive (there is also a shuttle service for a fee). Tickets are $20 in advance and include the tasting samples at all participating locations. Tickets can be purchased on the day of the event, but they will be $25 and can be purchased at Town Hall.
This event is a great way to tour around Julian and see what it has to offer. All of the money goes to the Chamber of Commerce to support events throughout the year like the annual tree lighting in November. For more information, including a list of the participating places, and to buy tickets on line visit: http://www.jma.memberlodge.org/TOJ.
That is your Nickel Beer News for now. Follow us on Facebook for more regular updates at: https://www.facebook.com/NickelBeerCompany. I don’t have our upcoming cask schedule done just yet, but I will post on Facebook when I do. And we should have some Chinook IPA on cask at O’Brien’s in early April. We’ll see you soon for a great Julian brewed beer. Cheers, Tom