San Diego Successes Ballast Point - Just a hop, a skip & a jump!
We're not sure what San Diego company Ballast Point's founder Jack White was studying at college (or even what college it was!), but he sure took something powerful away from his keg partying days. If nothing else, he got a taste for beer, and along the way appeared to have learned that where beer was concerned, he just wasn't finding the he wanted.
This quest (thirst?) set him on a road that seems to have led to fulfillment and beverage making success on an epic scale. In his backyard home brewery where craft beer has its heart he performed many experiments, and this led to him opening Home Brew Mart in 1992 as a way to supply both himself and other local keen home-brewers with those hard to get home-brew supplies . It was here that Jack made the acquaintance of Yuseff Cherney already the proud holder of many home-brewing awards, and a friendship began to ferment. Four years later, the taste must have been just right, because the Jack and Youseff brew saw the creation of Ballast Point Brewing Company.
Ballast Point is first and foremost, a journey undertaken because of a joint obsession for taste and aroma, with technique and with tinkering, to produce superbly drinkable, unforgettable beer made from top quality ingredients. But, along with their all consuming love of beer, these kindred spirits also discovered a shared love for fishing, and oddly perhaps this meeting of minds, heavily influenced the naming and branding of each newly launched product.
More than two decades on, these San Diegan pioneers remain unafraid, their adventurous and scientific spirit continuing to push new boundaries,whilst at the same time it is seamlessly coupled with a willingness to stick to tradition, with a deep seated ethos and belief in living life doing what you love and (luckily for us) of sharing the results. It's a recipe that works, has led to many more successful collaborations and seriously rapid growth.
By 2004, Ballast Point desperately needed extra room and, leaving Home Brew Mart where it was (and still is, just like us, open 7 days a week), Jack & Yuseff moved Ballast Point operations to nearby Scripps Ranch. You would think that having excelled so spectacularly in their artful beer-making, they would be satisfied, but exploration seems ingrained and more recently they've also become multi-award winning distillers too, adding their own spin to other ancient and traditional crafts and now has in their portfolio Ballast Point boasts a collection of 7 spirits including Three Sheets Rums, Old Grove Gins, Fugu Vodkas, Devil's Share Whiskies, herbal Opah Liqueur, plus award winning Bloody Mary and Mai Tai mixers all of which are made and bottled at Scripps Ranch.
It should come as no surprise then that by 2013 they were outgrowing even the ranch. To keep up with demand they found themselves urgently in need of another, larger space for their beer making enterprise, quickly settling on a space in Miramar where construction was begun.
But, Not for one moment resting on their laurels (nor it appears needing any rest at all) in the fall the same year they added a third location in the Little Italy neighbourhood which houses not only a brewery, but also a tasting room, and an attached restaurant which serves craft food inspired by the same courageous and adventurous spirit.
In the summer of 2014 construction at Miramar was complete. A brand new 107,000 square foot, beautifully equipped brewery went into production. Their new head quarters showpieces two enormous copper kettles discovered in an a old German brewery, a state-of-the-art lab, a tasting bar - the,perfect place for these ingenious entrapaneurial fine brew-sters to continue to experiment and to expanded their barreling and sours program. There is also another fine restaurant, the site plenty big enough to support the brewery's astronomic growth.
They do as it happens take occasional time off...there's the aforementioned love of fishing and Ballast Point Brewing & Distilling Company has not one, but two fishing teams, The Beer, and The Sprits Fishing Teams both of which since their formation have been busy reeling in recognition. The company continues to invest itself into San Diego, providing us with wonderful beers and spirits yes. But also just like their incredible beverage recipes, they share their success, bringing prosperity and employment and supporting our local charities and non profit making organisations and events.
Their spirit of adventure hasn't waned. Their plan is to keep doing what they love. They are exceptionally good at it so their story is unlikely to come to a stop.
Ballast Point & Quality Liquor Store - San Diegan's Dedicated to the craft. We are proud to stock the full range of Ballast Point produce why not drop in and discover yours today.
We are after all only a hop,a skip,and a jump away.
Quality Liquor Store 2329 Madison Avenue San Diego to:
Home Brew Mart - distance 4.8 miles
Little Italy - distance 4.3 miles
Scripps Ranch - distance 12.4 miles
Miramar - distance 12.9 miles
Courtesy of Google Maps:
