With all regulatory permits and licenses finalized, it was announced today Ballast Point and its associated production facilities and brewpubs throughout California and Chicago are now officially owned by Kings & Convicts Brewing Co. To honor the newest chapter in Ballast Point’s 24-year history, company-wide employees ranging from brewing operations to retail management, to quality control and R&D, signed an open letter signifying the return to the brand’s iconic independent roots in San Diego.
An Open Letter from
the Employees of Ballast Point
Born in San Diego, Ballast Point was founded in 1996 because we love beer.
Through every chapter, that fact remains constant.
What has changed since ’96, you ask? We’ve heard the rumors. And you’re right.
Quality has changed – it’s better.
Innovation has changed – there’s more.
Variety has changed – we’re creating more now than ever.
So, you’re right. Things have changed over the past 24 years.
It hasn’t always been perfect, but we are stronger today than ever before.
Through all of the change, all we’ve focused on is making great beers to share with you, our friends and neighbors.
The same great people, making the same great beer, endured a trying couple of years.
Why stay, you ask? Each other. Our passion. Our beer.
Longtime customers turned longtime employees still walk our brewery halls, and we’ve been here staying the course. Brewing the beer we want to drink.
We’re all in the same dream, with the same goal. Every day, we pour our heart and soul into the beer we brew and into the family we’ve made.
Ballast Point is back, but in fact, we never left.
A pioneering brewery born within the hallowed, hopped walls of Linda Vista’s Home Brew Mart – its birthplace and incubator for the local and cross-border brewing community – Ballast Point has navigated unchartered waters before since its inception in 1996. But as its moniker implies, quality and consistency have remained cornerstones of the brand’s foundation and the future for Ballast Point includes a continued culture of innovation, collaboration and a passion for brewing great beer.
That innovation begins at the employee level with pilot research and development breweries in every location from San Diego, to Anaheim, Long Beach and Chicago. In any given year, there are on average 125 unique, experimental beer recipes ready to brew on a commercial scale. Formalized in 2013 as ‘Roots to Boots,’ the program champions innovation from within by giving employees an opportunity to brew original beer recipes on a 5bbl system at Ballast Point’s Little Italy brewery where it’s then served across locations. The evolution of the program promises more of the same innovation, but with added distribution channels to share small-batch and scaled creativity within and across communities.
Ballast Point was born out of the experimental efforts of a couple of home brewers who were passionate about great beer. Though it’s grown over the past 24 years, the unwavering spirit of innovation and the employees’ love for the craft will be kept alive by honoring the Ballast Point adage: We brew the beer we like to drink.
Cheers to the next chapter of Ballast Point.
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About Ballast Point Brewing Co.
What started in 1996 as a small group of homebrewers who simply wanted to make great beer evolved into the team of adventurers known today as Ballast Point. From bringing a hoppy twist to a porter or adding four types of malt to its amber ale, to creating the breakthrough gold-medal winning Sculpin IPA, the San Diego-based company is known for adding its touch and asking if there’s a better way. Now an internationally recognized leader in the craft brewing industry with
6 brewery locations in California and Chicago, the company makes over 50 styles of beer and distributes to all 50 states and 17 countries internationally. For more information, visit www.ballastpoint.com and follow our journey on Instagram and Facebook.
Gaaron Varner
Raymond
