The Owner Calls Green Truck His Favorite Brew of the Year

Oregon Amarillo picked less than a day before it hit the kettle, at 8 percent and finishing dry. Owner Tom Nickel says it is always one of his favorite brews of the year, which is a specific thing to put in writing.

• Style: Wet Hop Double IPA
• Release Date: 2026-10-02
• ABV: 8%
• Nickel Beer Company (Julian, CA)

Brewery newsletters do not usually pick favorites. This one does.

Nickel Beer Company has tapped Green Truck, a wet hop double IPA brewed with Oregon-grown Amarillo hops, as part of what owner and brewer Tom Nickel describes as the Julian brewery's annual barrage of wet hop beers. Three are pouring at once. Writing to subscribers, Nickel singles out this one: "Always one of my favorite brews off the year, this one is a real standout."

The beer is 8 percent. Nickel says this year's batch delivers what he wants from Amarillo, with massive cannabis-like aromas and citrus notes in the finish, and calls it super drinkable with a very dry finish.

That last detail is the one doing quiet work. A double IPA carrying this much hop aroma has an easy failure mode, which is residual sweetness that turns the whole thing heavy. Taking it dry at 8 percent keeps the hops out front rather than competing with malt.

Why the 24-hour window matters

All three of the brewery's current wet hop beers are brewed with hops picked less than a day before they went into the kettle. Nickel frames these beers as a snapshot of the hop harvest, with flavors that can only be had once a year, and that framing is a fair description of the mechanics. Hops are normally dried and pelletized so they keep. Fresh cones are not shelf stable, and the aromatic oils that make the difference begin to fade almost immediately after picking, which is why wet hop brewing happens on the farm's clock rather than the brewery's.

Amarillo is a pointed variety to spend that window on. It is known for a dank, resinous character alongside orange and stone fruit, and the dank side is exactly the part that dried hops tend to soften. Brewing it wet is a way of hearing the hop at full volume. It would stand up to something rich and salty, the sort of thing that needs a dry finish to cut through it.

Green Truck is on tap now at the brewery on Hollow Glen Road in Julian, alongside two other wet hop releases.