In 2015, Ballast Point Brewing was acquired by Constellation Brands, a multi-national corporation with financial fortitude far exceeding that of the San Diego-born company’s previous ownership (as well as pretty much every craft brewery in the country). The backing of Constellation Brands instantly made formerly cost-prohibitive ventures feasible, opening up a wealth of opportunities for Ballast Point to go places their contemporaries couldn’t even fathom. Case in point, the combination brewery, tasting room and kitchen the company today announced it is constructing in the heart of the Downtown Disney District in Anaheim.
This will be Ballast Point’s seventh Southern California location and first erected in Orange County. Scheduled to open in late 2018, it will come in at 7,300 square feet and include a three-barrel research-and-development brewery as well as a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. The brewery will offer mainstays from Ballast Point’s beer portfolio, and also produce ales and lagers unique to that location (under the direction of a yet-to-be-determined member of the company’s brewing team), shipping some of those offerings to its sister venues. The food menu will consist of beer-friendly SoCal dishes, some of which will be plucked from the menus of BP’s brewpubs in Little Italy, Miramar and Long Beach.
Ballast Point currently operates a sextet of California tasting rooms plus a public-serving venue at its brewery in Daleville, Virginia. In addition to the Downtown Disney location, the company is also at work constructing a brewery-equipped kitchen operation in Chicago, Illinois. While Disney California Adventure Park has long included beery offerings from numerous brewing companies, Ballast Point’s new venue will provide Disneyland Resort with its first ever onsite brewing facility. Its addition further signals the advancing reputation and perceived importance of craft beer in America, especially among larger corporations who see the value it can add to their operations.