Have you ever had a Nickel Beer?

If you've ever been to Julian, CA, you would know that it's a mountainside village about an hour northeast of San Diego. Driving through the area, you would easily glean the major attractions are pie, wineries, and cideries. For a small town of about 1,800 people, it attracts a good amount of tourism in its central core which is all of about four blocks long. The whole town is a historical landmark measuring roughly 8 square miles at an elevation of 4,226 feet. Amazingly, it has two breweries. One is Nickel Beer.

I'd neither heard of Julian nor of Nickel Beer until very recently. 

I was introduced to Nickel Beer after completing a half marathon earlier in the year. It was in Palm Desert, CA, and even though it was ten o'clock in the morning, by golly, I was going to have a celebratory beer as soon as I crossed the finish line. Nickel Beer was pouring. 

I remember I had the Take A Hike (extra pale ale). Hubby had the Lake Cuyamaca Lager. Even thought it was months ago, we still remember those beers.

I looked up the brewery and noted it's remote-to-us location in Julian. Nevertheless, I tucked away the idea of going to Julian and checking out the brewery. It's somewhere between where I live and San Diego but not necessarily the most direct route. (Although relatively close to San Diego, it's about two hours from where we live.)

Then, I heard a couple of neighbors say they always make it a point to drive through Julian when heading to or from San Diego and that was all I needed. That, and a couple of tickets to a San Diego Padres game.

It was well worth the stop and only added about 20 minutes to our drive. The owner, Tom Nickel, is an award winning brewer who previously brewed for Pizza Port, Oggi's, and Julian Beer Company (Julian's other brewery). If you take a look at Nickel's beer menu and search for the word "medal," you will find seven references to award winning beer. It's a small, hard-working brewery cranking out some amazing beer. In fact, looking at the beer list on their website, it's hard to imagine they could produce so many beers. And so good. I had the Hook In Mouth Chinook Wet Hop IPA (🍻) which was one such medal winner and featured hops grown in nearby Ramona, CA. Hubby had the Stonewall Stout (🍺).

Based on the total of four beers we tried and the friendly and knowledgeable beertender, Nickel Beer may forever be a stop on any future trip between to or from San Diego. It's a quaint, friendly brewery housed in a previous Sheriff's office (complete with holding cell), with a relaxed, local vibe and mostly outdoor seating (making it dog friendly). It's now one of my favorite places and I would definitely go back.

Rating: ❤️ 🔙🐕‍🦺