This past week I spent some quality time in the new Ballast Point Little Italy R&D brewhouse in downtown San Diego brewing up an Ould Ale/Strong Ale with industry vet Colby Chandler, make sure you check out their tap list soon for this beer.  This is BP’s first jump into the brewpub ring and trust me the food is equally as delightful as the 50 house beers they are trying to keep on tap at any given time (last week it was all Ballast Point brews + Sierra Nevada Celebration), impressive indeed.  Habanero Sculpin anyone?

yep, this long legged 4BBL brewhouse has tricked out low rider lights under the brew platform.
Yep, this long legged 4BBL brewhouse has tricked out low rider lights under the brew platform.

The brewhouse and cellar were made locally by Premier Stainless and it was a joy to work on; I’m sure all of the <5BBL breweries out there would love to have lauter tun rakes!  This collaboration brew was done as I was interested in trialing a new R&D malt we’ve been playing with, a 69L caramel rye malt.  Our brew will clock in at 8.5% ABV and will be named, ahem, “8.5 on the Richter Scale” as of course that’s my last name (you can thank Colby for that bit of cleverness).  It’s always a great day to get back into a brewhouse especially when you have a new product to play with.  Thanks Colby for a truly great day brewing and I’ll see you in Seattle in my hood in a few weeks!

Brew sheet 01.15.2014.  This beer is going to go fast.
Brew sheet 01.15.2014. This beer is going to go fast.
The cellar view from the brewstand at Ballast Point Little Italy.
The cellar view from the brewstand at Ballast Point Little Italy.