The KC Social

I remember when the news broke that Ballast Point Brewing Company sold for one billion dollars! It was what in retrospect may be seen as the height of the craft brewing craze. There were so many lofty expectations of where this shit could go. As much as brewers may sneer now, many dreamed of the possibility that if they worked hard enough they too could one day be bought out, Cha-Ching!

It was definitely a gamble for parent company Constellation Brands. Within months of the purchase many in leadership roles at Ballast including Jack White (founder), Yuseff Cherney (COO), head brewer, and co-founding distiller), and Nathan Stephens (R&D brewer) had jumped ship.

Its a tough market these days as consumers are a moving target with promiscuous tastes and endless options. That brings us to the reality of Ballast Point recently closing its Temecula brewpub and announcing its Miramar warehouse will soon shutdown.

This all reminds me of a time not long ago when I wrote an article expressing apprehension of how this was sustainable yet marveling at the possibilities for Ballast Point and craft beer in general. I am not on either side of the beer debate. I do not know enough to vilify or vindicate the brands I come across except through the use of my senses and personal experience. Here is how I felt about ballast point back in 2017 while visiting the Miramar location. It is a beautiful and fun space for any beer lover:

La Jolla Cove

The only official shit I had planned this trip was a visit to Ballast Point Brewing’s main location. Like everything at The KC Social, all is negotiable. We are now in a deal as to whether or not this shit is about beer, California, or life in general.

Ballast Point Brewing

The average person may consider me a beer nerd. To the actual beer nerds, I am far from a beer nerd. I agree with both assessments. I readily relish the taste of a well done pilsner as much as the most sought after sours and barrel aged delights. I have no interest in whale hunting or trades but I have been lucky enough to try some truly world class offerings. We are lucky as fuck right now. We have a ton of well made and frankly delicious brews floating around. It is downright ridiculous. I can spend all year trying new and remarkable beers in the Kansas City market without ever getting bored. We beer drinkers are a spoiled lot. I cannot see how any of this is sustainable. That is another fight for another day.

Ballast Point beer recently became readily available in the Kansas City market. My love of Ballast Point extends from Longfin lager to my personal favorite, Habanero Sculpin. I love Habanero Sculpin! Hell, I love regular Sculpin but they took their world class IPA and added the heat and sweetness of habanero peppers? I’m in! I have no choice. I am a victim of this shit. Habanero, grapefruit, and pineapple were the first toes Ballast Point brewers dipped into the ocean of flavor options available to enhance their incredibly solid flagship IPA. Its opened up a range of versatility to keep the nerds interested and satisfy the casual craft beer consumer. They have up to this point been able to masterfully straddle both worlds. Ballast Point is in the unique position of having its nitro velvet cake and eat it too. They have massive growth potential. Ballast Point is creating sour beers like Blackberry Sour Wench, barrel aged stouts aged in Willet bourbon barrels, specialty nitros like Red Velvet, to their unique fruit twists on their stellar flagship beers. They do all this and still introduce new craft enthusiasts to session IPA’s and pale ales. There are plenty of people who consider these styles a massive departure from the normalcy of the everyday American lager.

One of the large copper kettles discovered in a brewery in Lohr, Germany.

We headed over to Ballast Point’s Miramar location, 9045 Carroll Way San Diego, CA 92121 which was 15 minutes from our hotel in La Jolla. The brewers, canners, and bottlers were cranking full steam ahead. There was a genuine bustle in the air. We took a tour through the canning and bottling lines and people were flying by hard at work. All breweries have an incredible amount of work to be done but the sheer volume and pace was the most impressive I had ever witnessed. Ballast Point is not fucking around. They are in most states and pushing distribution internationally. That’s a lot of Sculpin. The branding and artwork is more the result of chance and fluke. According to the Ballast point website:

“Home Brew Mart regular, Paul Elder struck up a conversation about fishing, and then pulled out a sketchbook full of meticulously detailed fish illustrations.”

Those illustrations have become the immediately recognizable call sign to the Ballast Point lineup. It doesn’t take a genius to see the international appeal of the maritime scapes. The art captures the unique style and laid back spirit of San Diego. The beautifully crafted brews allow one to take a mini vacation with every six pack. I did three straight full pours of fresh Habanero Sculpin followed by a myriad of options that put me in a hole quickly. I followed this up by doing serious damage in the gift shop in efforts to take home mementos of Cali life. Ballast Point has captured San Diego in a can and is spreading the feel good vibes to the rest of the world one sip at a time. It’s a beautiful thing.  It’s early spring in KC and you can still catch a bit of that California sunshine…