Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Ballast Point's Expansion

I saw this article from San Diego Magazine referenced on BeerAdvocate.  The article discusses Ballast Point's expansion plans at its Scripps Ranch brewery.  The expansion will allow Ballast Point to double its beer production and grow its spirits business.  Here is the key passage in the brief article:
At their main brewery in Scripps Ranch—a smaller brewery, located in Linda Vista, focuses on specialty beers—Ballast Point has started construction on a project that will expand their footprint to 25,000 square feet. This will enable the brewery to more than double beer production, the size of the tasting room, and the distilling capacity of Ballast Point Spirits, a passion project for head brewer Yuseff Cherney.   
Owner Jack White forecasts Ballast Point will soon outgrow their current digs, even with the expansion. He envisions dedicating the Scripps Ranch space solely to producing spirits and shifting their beer operation to an even larger space, perhaps with its own restaurant.
The last sentence brings up the obvious question.  If Ballast Point moves its brewing operations to a larger facility, what happens to its Linda Vista location?  This is darned important to me due to its close proximity to my house, and especially since I recently counted that for some reason I have four Ballast Point growlers.   As an aside, if you have not tried Ballast Point's Big Eye IPA lately, do yourself a favor and get a pint, bomber or a six-pack.  Big Eye is overshadowed by Ballast Point's other IPA, Sculpin, but to me, it is the most underrated IPA in San Diego.  It is maltier than most local IPAs, which gives it a pleasant richness, and its hop profile is outstanding. 

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