Sunday 27th of May 2007 12:32:21 PM

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Ballast Point Brewing's Home Brew Mart location at Linda Vista road was first on our list of breweries to visit in San Diego. Why? Well for one, their other location is not open on weekends, two, Ballast has a large selection of beers, and three, they open at 10am compared to 12 or 1 for other SD breweries.

We arrived around 11am and found plenty of parking since their facility occupies two lots within the strip mall. This location primarily sells supplies for brewing your own beer at home. Walking in the front door you see a thorough selection of both equipment and ingredients. It was a treat to see the numerous dry ingredients in barrels that are sold by weight. Although the appearance has a warehouse feel, that's because beer is actually brewed on the premises, hence the high ceilings. Above the cash register are large logos of their main brews, giving you a hint of what's in store for tasting. Keep walking past the beer supplies and you're rewarded by the view you've been waiting for...the tasting bar!

You are instantly overwhelmed by their beer listing hanging above and the large number of taps behind the bar. Don't let the short bar length or lack of stools fool you, you are in for a great experience. Above the bar is a massive blackboard angled towards you for better viewing. Listed are no less than 10 brews, we lost count, with extensive info such as ABV, IBU, IG/FG, and descriptions.

Samples are served in 6oz tall glasses that run $1 for year-round brews and $1.50 for specialty ones. Our friendly staff member, John, noted that we could opt for half-size samples so we threw caution to the wind since, afterall, we drove here for the beer tasting! With a drool-worthy list before us, we started at the top (lightest) and worked our way down. The majority of the offering were IPA's, my favorite, so we mainly stuck to those.

Beginning with the Pale Ale and Amber Ale, 90% of the beers we tried were consistently excellent in appearance, aroma, initial taste, and finishing taste. Each consecutive IPA was unbelievably better than the last. We also tried their half-IPA (light) and oatmeal stout, the former proved very light taste with good body while the latter was pitch black with light body and strong initial flavor. We also tried their Dorado Double IPA in both original and in cask form. While these weren't to our liking, experiencing the difference in taste was worthwhile. Throughout our tastings we had a stimulating discussion with the staff and just before leaving got to talking about hefeweizens. I couldn't believe their version was a white style so they gave me a taste and wow, it's very pale in color with a mouthful of flavor suitable for summer.

Picking a beer to take home was also tough but since most are available in 22oz in LA, we decided to get a half-gallon growler of their Sculpin (sp?) IPA.

We had an excellent experience at Ballast, from the knowledgable staff to the outstanding beers, we now have a new favorite in SoCal.