A Quick Tour of Ballast Point Brewing Company
Welcome to our tour of Ballast Point Brewing Company. Our mission is to create traditional handcrafted ales with the freshness that can only come from a local beer. Using only the finest ingredients, Ballast Point beer is made with an uncompromising commitment to quality.
The malt is the heart of the beer. The malt must be carefully milled to expose the vital enzymes and starches inside each grain. The grain is then mashed with hot water to convert the starches into sugar.
Once this process is completed the sweet malty solution called "wort" is moved to our 15 barrel kettle. During the boil the choicest American and European hops are added to give Ballast Point Ales their distinctive aroma and flavor.
The next step is to cool the wort and pump it into the primary fermenter where the yeast is "pitched". The yeast must be carefully tested for purity and quality. San Diego based White Labs helps us with the development and maintenance our yeast strains.
In a day or two the fermentation process in full swing. The yeast is busy transforming the sweet wort into alcohol and carbon dioxide. After a week or so beer is waiting to be moved into a secondary fermenter for cold conditioning.
A well cleaned and sanitized brewery is the key to consistently excellent products.
Tasting is the final test of quality and consistency. Stop by and sample all of our delicious beer at our tasting Bar. Boy this is hard work!