What started as a passionate hobby in an UCLA dorm room will soon be making its way to The Region thanks to a new partnership between Indiana Beverage and Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits out of San Diego.
While Ballast Point has grown over the years in size, what the company prides itself on is its lifelong commitment to the passion put into home brewing which inspired owner, Jack White, to turn his love into his career more than 20 years ago.
“We (Ballast Point) actually started out 23 years ago as Home Brew Mart for local beer enthusiasts,” Skip Stegmair of Ballast Point told IIMM. “So we weren’t even selling beer when we first came to be, but helping others to create their own beers.”
Ballast Point’s rise-to-popularity is one of loyalty; surrounding yourself with like-minded people; and no matter where you end up, never losing sight of how you got there.
“When we started, it was just Jack delivering the kegs of our beer out of the back of his Toyota minivan,” Stegmair added. “Even further back in our Home Brew Mart Days, Jack hired someone he found helping out customers in our store who had the same passion for brewing. Now, that man is Yuseff Cheney, who is the Head of Brewing and our C.O.O.”
“A lot of the people that work for us today were there in the beginning of all this.”
That’s really the beauty of the Ballast Point story, though, in that much like the craft beer industry itself, everything about their rise in the beer world kind grew naturally through a love for what they do.
“Our whole business is so organic like that, it’s all tied back to our roots and that passion. Our passion for the business, our passion for the people, and the passion about the beer that we make for the people,” said Stegmair.
And now Northwest Indiana will get to taste that passion in each sip of some of Ballast’s more traditional and eclectic offerings; beers that are a testament to the area where Ballast got its start.
“The tie to San Diego and our origins are all very close,” explained Stegmair. “You’re going to experience West Coast hops; more bright, floral notes, and hops that are more dank than European hops or hops used in Midwestern beers.”
Ballast Point plans to debut in Northwest Indiana in mid-to-late March with a wide variety of their offerings. For more info and updates follow along on 219 Beer's Official Facebook Page, or visit Ballast Point's website ( 21+ and over) to learn more.