On Thursday, November 13, The Original 40 Brewing Company will release “Spinning Reels: Vanilla” pastry stout, a beer that was aged in Blanton’s Bourbon original single barrels for 47 months beginning at Modern Times Beer in October 2021. Original 40 Head Brewer Kyle Fjalstad, who spent five years as Modern Times’ barrel-program manager, made the announcement.
The limited-edition beer will be available exclusively at Original 40’s brewpub in the North Park community of San Diego on draft and in 16-oz cans. A release party will be held starting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 13, when Fjalstad will make a presentation on the beer and host a Q&A session with guests.
Spinning Reels: Vanilla is 14.2 percent alcohol-by-volume (ABV), and it features Ugandan and Madagascar vanilla beans with tasting notes of crème brûlée, chocolate ganache, and toasted oak.
Two other versions of the beer will also be available: Spinning Reels (no adjuncts) and Spinning Reels Maple Almond Cookie Edition. Individual cans of Spinning Reels: Vanilla will be sold for $18 (plus CRV). A flight of the three beers on draft will be available for purchase.
“After nearly four years of aging, it was exciting, to say the least, to pour that first taster,” Fjalstad said. “It is decadent and dessert-like, and I believe a perfect fit for this fall season. It may take years to age, but these pastry stouts never get old.”
In August, Fjalstad released Magnetic Ribbon: Final Cut Edition pastry stout, a beer that was aged in Elijah Craig Bourbon eight-year barrels for 45 months beginning at Modern Times. Magnetic Ribbon won the Silver Medal in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Dessert Stout category at the 2025 Great American Beer Festival, the nation’s largest professional brewing competition commonly referred to as “The Oscars” of the craft beer industry.
Fjalstad also won two medals in the Pastry Stout category at the 2023 Great American Beer Festival. He and his team earned a Silver Medal for “Mega Devils Teeth – Double Dutch S’mores Edition” and a Bronze Medal for “Chaos Grid: The Final Final Course.”
Modern Times’ flagship brewery in the Midway District of Point Loma permanently closed in November 2024. Original 40 Founder Steve Billings hired Fjalstad one month later.
A San Diego State alumnus, Fjalstad started his professional brewing career as an intern at San Diego’s Council Brewing in 2016. He became a full-time brewer in 2017, working out of the brewery’s Kearny Mesa and Santee locations. In early 2019, he joined Temecula’s Black Market Brewing. Fjalstad then returned to San Diego in September 2019 to start his tenure with Modern Times.
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