September is one of the best times of the year for local brewers, with hop harvest season starting NBC San Diego put fifteen local breweries under the spotlight. Nickel Beer Co. in Julian being one of them.

"This is my favorite time of the year to be brewing," explained Tom Nickel, owner of Nickel Beer Co. in Julian. "All of the fresh hops are coming in and we finally have a hop industry in San Diego where you can get freshly grown hops pretty much the same day they're harvested and brew with them right away."

With San Diego hops being described as having their own unique characteristics, Nickel makes the effort to create a sustainable product that follows a complete ecological life cycle. The produce hand delivered to outlets and the hops after they've been used for brewing, are sold to local ranches as feed for livestock.

If you would like to know more about this local business, or sample the wares (great place to go to watch the football) - go to http://www.facebook.com/NickelBeerCompany/?fref=ts. Or to see the news item on local San Diego Breweries - http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/San-Diego-Craft-Beer-Industry-Spurs-Growth-of-Hop-Farms-391442391.html