Nickel Beer Company was founded in 2013 by Tom and Lindsey Nickel, owners of O’Brien’s Pub in San Diego. Tom started homebrewing at the age of 18 and has wanted to open a brewery in Julian since 1995. He worked in local breweries from 1996 to 2005 and in 2004 he was named the World Beer Cup Small Brewing Company Brewmaster of the Year.