Hello Nickel Beer Fans!
We have a lot of new beers and batches coming up in the next week including our first ever sour offering at the tasting room. Sunday we will be open early with breakfast food delivered for brunch as the Chargers take on the Chiefs at 10 am. And tonight you will be able to enjoy our beers at the Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park. Read on for all of the delicious details.
On Tap
Today we will tap a new keg of Habanero Chinook IPA. It has been a little while since we have had a Habanero IPA on tap. The new batch of Chinook IPA is tasting great with lots of resiny pine flavors and aromas. I have not yet even tasted the Habanero keg but I can tell you that the peppers smelled amazing while I was chopping them up. I think this is going to be a particularly good keg of spicy IPA. And the popular C.C. O’Neill’s Irish Red is back on tap and available to-go again.
Saturday the 12th we will tap our first ever sour beer at the brewery – Sour Wholly Crab! Apple Pie Ale. It is a blend of sour golden ale with the Wholly Crab! Apple Pie. The sour dominates the flavor but the apple flavor and aroma come through nicely. We only have a 5 gallon keg so we won’t be selling any to go. We’ll be doing 5 and 9 oz pours in the tasting room. A new batch of the Apple Pie Ale is on tap. In the middle of the apple season the apples are less tart and more balanced and that comes through in the beer with a very pleasant apple flavor this is just lightly sweet. I have been saving a keg of each batch of Apple Pie Ale to tap when the final batch is ready next month.
Next weekend we’ll have Hopster Douchebag Double IPA back on tap along with regular Stonewall Stout. The Hopster is conditioning with hops right now and it is tasting great. It clocked in at 8.6% alcohol so it has plenty of punch but is still relatively easy drinking. Right now in place of the regular stout we have the Barrel Aged version of the Stonewall Stout on tap. The Barrel Aged Kupfernickel Barleywine is also on tap and at 11% it is a nice way to warm up on these colder mountain days.
Sunday the 13th we will open at 10 am for the Chargers v. Chiefs game. Granny’s Kitchen will be delivering brunch and we’ll put the order in around 10:30 am for delivery just after 11 am.
Ales and Rails
Tonight, Friday the 11th I will be pouring beer at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum’s Ales and Rails event from 7-9 pm. I grew up going to the Model Railroad Museum and was not going to pass up the opportunity to help support it with this festival. We’ll have Apple Pie Ale and Irish Red pouring. Julian Hard Cider, Societe Brewing and Intergalactic Brewing will also be there. The event happens to be an ugly sweater party though I will not be wearing one. You can find the complete details on the museum’s website and if you can’t make it, please consider making a donation: http://www.sdmrm.org/#/alesnrails/4590995550.
Holiday Hours
We will be opening a little earlier during the week over the holidays. The brewery will be CLOSED on Christmas, December 25th but we will be open all other days. We’ll have regular hours until Sunday, December 20th and then these will be our hours for the following two weeks:
Monday, 12/21: 12 pm – 7:30 pm (or end of the Monday Night Game)
Tuesday 12/22: 12 pm – 6 pm
Wednesday 12/23: 12 pm – 7 pm
Thursday 12/24: 12 pm – 5 pm
Friday 12/25: CLOSED
Saturday 12/26: 11:30 am – 8 pm (or end of Saturday Night NFL game)
Sunday 12/27: 11:30 am – 7:30 pm (or end of Sunday Night Football – last Sunday Night Game)
Monday 12/28: 12 pm – 7:30 pm (or end of the Monday Night Game – last Monday Night Game)
Tuesday 12/29: 12 pm – 6 pm
Wednesday 12/30: 12 pm – 7 pm
Thursday 12/31: 12 pm – 7:30 pm (may stay open until 8:30 pm depending on the crowd and college football playoff game)
Friday 1/1: 11:30 am – 8 pm
Saturday 1/2: 11:30 am – 8 pm
Sunday 1/3: 11:30 am – 7 pm
And though NFL Monday Night Football will end on the 28th, we will be open for the College Football National Championship game on Monday, January 11th. Both semi-final playoff games will be on December 31st.
Gift Ideas
We have gotten some new merchandise in stock if you need an idea for a gift for the beer lover in your life. In addition to our Hydro Flask Growlers (which keep beer cold for up to 72 hours without refrigeration) we now have Hydro Flask Pint Glasses. These stainless steel pints will keep your beer ice cold for hours, even down to the last sip. I was skeptical when I first read about them, but having tried them out myself, I am amazed how well they work.
On the clothing side we have new women’s sweatshirts in navy and we have re-stocked our popular teal long sleeve women’s thermals. The women’s burn out shirts now come in long sleeve and short sleeve. For men we have new long sleeve thermals in navy that are super comfortable. All of our sweatshirts, hats, t shirts and long sleeve shirts are in good supply along with our Dickies work shirts – and we carry up to 4XL for men’s sizes.
And if you can’t decide what to give or you think beer might be the best gift, we offer gift certificates in any denomination.
As the year draws to a close, Lindsey and I would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped to make 2015 a great one for Nickel Beer. We are so blessed with the support we have received from everyone over the last two years. So on behalf of the entire Nickel Beer Crew – Heather, Alison, Rocky, Bill, Tom and Lindsey – a very big THANK YOU! May you have a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year. We’ll see you soon for a great Julian brewed beer.
Cheers, Tom