From the Beer Writer: We’re all familiar with the famous scene from the opening sequence of the Laverne and Shirley sitcom wherein they place a glove atop one of the kajillion 12-ounce glass receptacles zooming down the massive bottling line at the brewery they work for. It’s an enduring image that has led many to think of mammoth production and packaging facilities when they consider the act of beer bottling. But for many local breweries, things couldn’t be more different. Take, for instance, Kearny Mesa nano-brewery Kilowatt Brewing Co., where each and every beer that makes it into glass is hand-bottled by the owners. In-house designed labels are also manually affixed. Multiply these actions as much as is necessary for a single batch of beer and you have the hours of careful if not mind-numbingly monotonous grunt-work that illustrates the labor of love at the core of many a small brewery. It’s how many of the larger San Diego craft breweries that now have their own fancy bottling lines started out, making it all the more special to the craft purist when one sees the first bottles trickle out from newer, smaller operations as recently occurred with the aforementioned nano when Kilowatt One 63 Imperial Stout debuted in 22-ounce bottles last month. It’s the first of several off-premise offerings the interest will explore and, being brawny in its roasted-malt profile and alcoholic fortitude, it’s a proper selection for an El Niño-year winter.
From the Brewer: “Kilowatt’s 9.0% alcohol-by-volume One 63 Imperial Stout was first brewed and released for the unveiling of Kilowatt’s custom-painted mascot car in June 2015. This uniquely decorated 1961 Morris Minor is a sight to be seen featuring San Diego and craft beer imagery in the classic car’s Janis Joplin-style paint job. This brewery mascot was in need of a proper sidekick, so my fellow co-owner Rachel Fischer and I crafted the recipe for a smooth imperial brew that would complement the uniqueness and creativity of the car. The name ‘One 63’ was chosen to represent the 163 freeway, the main thoroughfare to the craft beer neighborhood of Kearny Mesa, which is also known as ‘Beerny Mesa.’ As a Russian imperial stout brewed with caramel, chocolate and roasted malts as well as oat and wheat flakes for a crisp, creamy body, the original recipe is a perfect base for experimenting with variations. Eager to get started, the Kilowatt team soon began barrel-aging the beer in red wine barrels previously fermented with Counoise, Mourvedre and Grenache grapes from a highly regarded winery in Paso Robles on the road to Hearst Castle. The first barrel-aged batch is currently available on tap and will soon be accompanied by a tart cherry barrel-aged version. Kilowatt also recently began bottling some of our specialty beers, including the original One 63 Imperial Stout recipe, along with our Bourbon Vanilla Oak Amber, Coconut Chai Porter, Cinnamon Hazelnut Brown, Chocolate Macadamia Stout, Strawberry Blonde and Obliquity Double IPA. Additional beers are scheduled to be available in bottles later this month.”—Steve Kozyk, Brewer, Kilowatt Brewing Co.