Hello Nickel Beer Fans!
I felt compelled to send out an email update after updating our beer lists for this weekend. We will have a bunch of great seasonal beers on tap for you to enjoy. I have news on where you can find our beers on tap outside of the tasting room. And we have a beer dinner and several collaboration brews in the works to tell you about. Our 5 plus inches of rain is past, Lake Cuyamaca is full and overflowing but sunny weather should remain for at least Friday and Saturday. Here are all of the frothy details…
On Tap in Julian
It is all kind of an accident, but a happy, or perhaps hoppy, one. I was moving kegs around in the cold box and a keg that I thought was our Tripp’s Tripel turned out to be the last surviving keg of our Lion’s Blood Triple IPA. The beer is now 6 months old but it still has incredibly bright hop flavors and aromas, albeit, somewhat more balanced with the malt. But what would you expect from an 11% alcohol beer? I am really pleased with the way it is still tasting even if I never meant to really let it sit around this long. The keg is on tap now and will be available while it lasts this weekend. We will only be selling it in 5 and 9 oz glasses so it is not like it will disappear in a day.
In addition to the Lion’s Blood we have the new round of Sour Apple Pie Ale on tap. This is a blend of 1 year old barrel aged sour ale with a fresh batch of our Apple Pie Ale. The result is almost like a pleasantly sour apple candy. I made several kegs so I am hoping to have this on for a little while.
The craziest beer I have ever made is pouring this weekend – Pickel Weisse. This is a blend of Lindsey’s Spicy Garlic Dill Pickel juice with our Nickel Weisse Berliner Weisse. Though only 4% alcohol, this blend packs a massive flavor punch. It is also out of this world with Bloody Mary Mix, which we just happen to have at the brewery for your imbibing pleasure.
In addition to these rare treats, Stonewall Stout is currently pouring on our nitrogen tap. Filthy Paws Porter and Hopster Douchebag Double IPA are both still pouring. As always, we have our Jalapeno Gold which seems just a touch spicier than usual. On the IPA front, the new Fix It IPA is on tap. This 6.1% alcohol IPA is full of grapefruit and citrus flavors and aromas. And there is one more keg of the popular Larry’s Place IPA.
Of course we also have our year round favorites – Volcan IPA, C.C. O’Neill’s Irish Red, Devil’s Copper, Back Country Gold, Apple Pie and Take A Hike Extra Pale Ale. The tasting room is also well stocked on Pickeled goods right now as well with Brussel Sprouts, Spicy Carrots and Spicy Green Beans in addition to the Spicy Garlic Dill Pickels (you get the feeling someone likes spicy?).
Look for Tripp’s Tripel, our Belgian-style Tripel to be on tap later this weekend as well – I would guess by Saturday evening. When it goes on tap, I will post up on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NickelBeerCompany/.
The annual Julian Daffodil Show takes place this Saturday and Sunday at Town Hall. It is amazing how many different types of Daffodils there are. This is always an impressive display of what mother nature has to offer.
On Tap Around Town
We have two full time tap accounts here in Julian. Jeremy’s on the Hill always has our Take A Hike pale ale on tap and often will have a second offering as well. They will be putting on the Irish Red closer to St. Patrick’s Day. Wynola Pizza carries a rotating selection of our beers and right now has the Apple Pie Ale.
Down the hill I am endeavoring to keep at least one beer on tap at West Coast Barbecue and Brew in La Mesa all the time. I know the Apple Pie Ale is on tap there with the Nickel Weisse Berliner Weisse on deck. I will be bringing down some Irish Red and Stonewall Stout for St. Patrick’s Day.
Monkey Paw currently has our collaboration Nickel Weisse on tap. The brewing crew from the Paw came up to help brew the Berliner Weisse and decide on how best to turn it into Pickel beer. Whether this was a good thing or bad thing, you will have to decide for yourself.
For you spicy beer fans, a rare keg of Deathtongue Scorpion Pepper IPA made its way down to O’Brien’s in Kearny Mesa. It may only be a five gallon keg, but I don’t anticipate anyone ordering pitchers of it, so it should be on until at least early next week. We will be pouring a cask of Irish Red with whiskey soaked oak chips at O’Brien’s on St. Patrick’s Day.
Coming Up
I have been working with lots of breweries around town on some collaboration beers. We just brewed a beer with Council Brewing Company that will be a barrel fermented and aged golden sour ale. In a few weeks we will have a keg of O Brother Where Tart Thou, a brew done with Bitter Brothers that is a Belgian-style Golden kettle soured ale dry hopped with Mosaic hops. We will also be aging this beer in white wine barrels with stone fruit for release later this year. Next month I will get to brew at San Diego’s oldest operating brewery, Karl Strauss Old Columbia Brewery. I am partnering up with my friend and Karl Strauss head brewer Paul Segura to make a strong version of the brewery’s uber tasty Mosaic Pale. Finally you can look forward to a Double IPA inspired by the flavors of the Lion’s Blood Triple IPA for the Beer to the Rescue program in May.
I will be making a keg of the C.C. O’Neill’s Irish Red with whiskey soaked oak chips for the tasting room for St. Patrick’s Day. There will also be some Constantine’s Russian Imperial Stout to tap that weekend.
We will be working with Jeremy’s on the Hill to do another beer dinner at this fantastic local eatery on May 5th. Yes, it is Cinco de Mayo and you can bet that we will have a Mexican inspired food menu with some Jalapeno Gold flowing. Spicy food goes very well with hoppy beers so I imagine at least one IPA will be there plus the Stonewall Stout. As we finalize the details – menu, cost, beer list, time, etc.. – I will definitely let you know.
Next weekend brings us the switch to Daylight Savings Time. Spring evenings on the patio with the advent of longer days are probably my favorite time of the year. The trees are starting to leaf out and bloom, the days are warm but the nights are still cool. I never really understood Spring as a season growing up in San Diego but I sure learned to appreciate it while living on the east coast. You can always find out what our crazy weather is doing up here at: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=33.0786552&lon=-116.6019637&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Julian%2C%20CA%2092036%2C%20USA#.WLfNmn-pnFD. The desert flowers are supposed to magnificent this year and well worth a trip out to Borrego. There is also a very cool hawk migration going on out in Borrego right with the Swainson’s Hawk. You can find out about it at: http://borregohawkwatch.blogspot.com/.
That is your Nickel Beer news for now. We’ll see you soon for a great Julian brewed beer. Cheers, Tom