Today, Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits unveils the new tasting room to showcase their craft distillery, housed in the brewery's Scripps Ranch location.
Thanks to new legislation, Ballast Point and other California distilleries can now serve and sell samples on-site, albeit in small quantities; pours are limited to a quarter-ounce with a maximum of six samples.
Ballast Point will offer four tasting tours a day, at 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. for $10; tickets can be purchased at the brewery. Hosted by the distillery's staff, including head distiller and brewery COO Yuseff Cherney, the 30 minute tours will include an explanation on their distilling process, from production to aging, while you sip through six spirits, including Fugu Vodka, Old Grove Gin, Three Sheets Rum, Three Sheets Barrel Aged Rum, Devil's Share Moonshine and Devil's Share Bourbon; their highly-coveted Single Malt Whiskey might even be swapped in on occasion.
The 350-square-foot, old-time apothecary-themed tasting room was hand built by Cherney, who scoured swap meets and thrift stores for appropriate scene-setting accessories. Cherney told Eater that he hopes this is San Diego's first step towards more accessibility for the distillery, following in the footsteps of cities like Portland where on-site bottle sales are allowed. He divulged that the distillery's next releases will be a "barrel-rested" gin, aged for 50 days, and a series of flavored vodkas in horchata, jamaica, habanero and pineapple. Absinthe is also on the horizon.
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits [Official Site]