Hello Nickel Beer Fans!
Our new Imperial Stout is now on tap in the tasting room – Constantine’s Russian Imperial Stout. The beer is pitch black and 9.4% alcohol with strong coffee and roast flavors along with hints of molasses and smoke in the finish. The beer was named for Russian artist Constantine Cherkas who lived in Julian from 1989 until his passing in 2011. He and his wife are both buried in the Julian Cemetary.
You will have to enjoy the Imperial Stout in the tasting room as we are not selling it to go right now. A good portion of the batch went into Bourbon and Rye Whiskey barrels so there is not as much beer as there would be in a normal batch. A nitrogen tapped version will be on at some later point but not until at least the week after St. Patrick’s Day.
Down the Hill
In addition to the tasting room in Julian you will be able to find the Imperial Stout on tap at Hamilton’s Tavern in South Park this evening. The pub is doing a joint Nickel Beer and Chick Alek event. They will have kegs of Apple Pie Ale, Larry’s Place IPA C.C. O’Neill’s Irish Red and Redstonewall Stout – our blend of Stonewall Stout with Redstone Vanilla Cinnamon Mead. And I suspect that the second keg of the Irish Red that was ordered will find its way on tap for St. Patrick’s Day.
And Hamilton’s will be one of SEVEN places our beer is on tap around town. We currently have kegs on tap at Jeremy’s on the Hill in Julian, West Coast Barbecue and Brew in La Mesa and 4 pubs along Convoy Street in Kearny Mesa – O’Brien’s, Soho (awesome Bourbon, Rye and Whiskey selection), Common Theory (conveniently right by So Cal Gun) and Shanghai Saloon (home of Dumpling Inn which I highly recommend eating at if you have never been).
In Julian
Next weekend is the annual Julian Daffodil Show on March 12th and 13th. It is always an impressive display of flowers and there are hundreds of different types of Daffodils. The show is in town hall and is open with no charge on both Saturday and Sunday. If you come up to Julian it is certainly worth stopping by.
For St. Patrick’s Day I am preparing some special versions of C.C. O’Neill’s Irish Red. We’ll have regular draft, nitrogen tapped and a keg that has whiskey soaked oak chips in it at the tasting room. I made a cask with the whiskey soaked oak chips that will be tapped at O’Brien’s on the 17th. And West Coast Barbecue and Brew will have a draft keg of the oak chip version also on the 17th.
Next month we will be participating in the annual Taste of Julian on Saturday, April 9th from 1-5 pm. It is a self guided tour of Julian’s restaurants and beer, wine and cider tasting rooms. Every place gives out a small sample to try and most places are easy walking distance in town. There are a few spots, like the brewery and a few of the wineries that are driving distance and there are stops in Wynola, 3 miles southwest of Julian. All of the money raised goes to support the Julian Chamber of Commerce and its events. You can buy tickets and get more info at: http://julian-california.com/to-see-do/special-events/taste-of-julian/.
Finally, we are expecting some real winter weather at the end of this weekend and early next week. On Monday the National Weather Service is calling for up to a foot snow above 5000 feet which means Mt. Laguna and Sunrise Highway should get significant snow. You can follow the weather updates at: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=33.0786552&lon=-116.6019637&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Julian%2C%20CA%2092036%2C%20USA#.Vtn6stDGBCL. Be careful on the roads no matter where you are as we are going to get some real rain from this storm.
That is your beer news from Julian for now. We’ll see you soon for a great Julian brewed beer. Cheers, Tom