Based out of San Diego, Ballast Point Brewing Company started when a few guys with a love for good beer and good fishing decided to open up shop and sell their own brews.
In 1992, Jack White and a handful of investors opened Home Brew Mart, a Linda Vista shop that sold malt, hops, yeast and advice to amateur San Diego brewers. Four years later, Ballast Point Brewery was added to the shop.
Ballast Point is the 31st largest craft brewer in the country, but it has an extensive portfolio of year-round and experimental beers that are already in wide distribution. It also owns a home brew store, a production brewery, a distillery and a pilot-batch brewpub, all in San Diego County, as well as satellite pubs in California.
As you might have guessed the Peaks and Pints Craft Beer Crosscut for Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017, is all about Ballast Point Brewing Company.
Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale
5.5% ABV, 35 IBUs
Inspired by English ESBs, Ballast Point’s Calico Amber Ale is an American twist on the classic style with all distinctly American ingredients. This award-winning beer is almost certain to get you thinking about our gilled friends and have you off to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in no time.
Ballast Point Mango Even Keel
3.8% ABV, 40 IBUs
Ten malts/ Six hops? We could hardly believe that such a low-alcohol beer could exist, until we studied Ballast Point’s Session Ale. The reason for the big, bold taste with such a low ABV? The two strains of yeast used to ferment this beer, plus the dry-hopping and late kettle additions of hops. This hoppy, sessionable ale gets a flavor boost from mango, which perfectly plays off the citrusy hop bouquet. With fruit, hops, and a low ABV, this beer is truly on another level.
Ballast Point Victory At Sea Nitro
10% ABV, 60 IBUs
The addition of cold brewed coffee to the beer lends a subtle roasted flavor to this robust imperial porter, blending perfectly with rich vanilla and caramel undertones. The nitro adds creaminess.
Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
7% ABV, 70 IBUs
The classic Sculpin was a foundational West Coast IPA, a palate-expanding beer for a generation of young hopheads. Sculpin, their original IPA, has been winning major awards since 2006, and has spawned two more excellent strains — the Grapefruit and the Jalapeño. The original, however, remains our favorite, with its clear complexion and a color like polished brass. Most notably, the Sculpin smells like no other IPA out there — it gets in your face and your nose and doesn’t let go, with dark, dry-hemped aromas mixed with fiery herbal notes. The taste complements these scents, rather than mirroring them, with fresh flavors of pine and grapefruit rind and a light and airy mouth feel.
Ballast Point Roots to Boots Double IPA
8.5% ABV
Roots to Boots Double IPA is a solid, 8.5% ABV craft beer with a hearty malt build and a robust hoppy flavor that’s resiny, lightly tropical but hugely bitter.
