Innovation and exploration, those are the influences behind the plethora of craft beers and spirits that Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits develops, Chief Commercial Officer Earl Kight says. Noting the San Diego-based craft brewery and distillery has between 27-30 packaged beers, more than 100 draft beers and about 21 spirits within its portfolio, Kight notes that ambitious spirit is how the company sets the stage for new product development.
“We don’t sit back and say ‘Oh, we believe the next trend is going to be X, Y or Z,’” he says. “I think we kind of start the trends because of our creativity, so you end up with products like Grapefruit Sculpin, Pineapple Sculpin or Sculpin itself. We have a [research and development] R&D brew house in one of our restaurants where we brew a different beer almost every day led by teams of our employees.”