It won’t be La Mesa’s first brewing company (Bolt Brewery nabbed those bragging rights, opening last year after the municipal government removed restrictions on breweries within its geographic confines), but Helix Brewing Company (8101 Commercial Street, La Mesa) will be the first paying direct homage to the East County city. Owner and brewer Cameron Ball grew up in La Mesa at a house located on the Mount for which his soon-to-open interest is named.
A civil engineer by trade, Ball will single-handedly craft every beer brewed on his 10-barrel system from Oregon’s Portland Kettle Works. He hopes to brew many styles in small batches, but wants to focus on making exceptional hoppy beers, rye-infused beers and session beers. When Helix begins its soft-open period, eight beers will be on tap: an eponymous pale ale, hoppy red ale, session India pale ale (IPA), rye IPA, black rye IPA, chocolate rye porter, oatmeal stout and Bavarian weizen called Acid Drop. All come in under 7% alcohol-by-volume. Starting in autumn, Ball will brew one-time, rotating, seasonal double IPAs. Sour beers are also on the planned horizon.
Helix’s cellar will consist of four 10-barrel fermenter tanks and four 10-barrel brights, with four of the tasting room’s dozen taps hooked up to serve directly from the latter for ultimate freshness. Of the 2,000 total square feet within Helix’s Interstate 8 and Bolt Brewery neighboring facility, half will be devoted to production and cold storage with the rest left for people to enjoy both the beer and the brewing process. Ball says the only walls are in the restrooms, as he wanted visitors to be able to easily see into the brewery. When asked what led him to select his space, he replies simply that it’s “rad,” citing its brick composition, exposed wood trusses and 1,600 square feet of available outdoor space for a future beer garden.
Ball is aiming to produce 350 barrels of beer in his first year of operation, and says that his current footprint can support a maximum of 3,500 barrels annually. Piping for planned future tanks has been put in place for ease of installation should the need for additional fermentation and conditioning space arise. Eventually, Helix will can, but in the beginning, self-distributed kegs will be doled out selectively to bars of Ball’s choosing.
Helix’s soft-open is currently slated to start Saturday, August 29, with a debut event that will include food trucks, live music, and a variety of games to help project a planned family-friendly vibe. The tasting room will be dog-friendly (Ball says they are family, too) and patrons will be able to view a sped-up GoPro time-lapse video of the brewery’s entire build-out.