(San Diego, CA) – BeerPulse caught up with Ballast Point Brewing Co. Director of Sales, Earl Kight, this week.

The company announced on its Facebook page recently that it was in the process of shipping beer to Oregon and Washington. Columbia Distributing is handling things in Oregon and Western Washington starting this week, according to Kight, and if all goes well, the company will align with Click Wholesale shortly in the Eastern side of the state (just formalities at this point).

Idaho Distributing (C. Stein Beverage Group) will come on board in two weeks.

Ballast Point will also re-enter Colorado with Elite Brands with the aim of landing there by late June, possibly as early as June 23rd. The company left the market four years ago when it was with New Age Beverage. Kight says breweries can leave the Colorado market for a year and re-align with who they want to when they return.

The Chicago area was the most-recent entry on May 1st. “So far so good,” says Kight. Its wholesale partner there, Wirtz Beverage, sold through between 5,000 and 5,500 case-equivalents in its first month. Kight says Wirtz adapted well to its large portfolio. BeerPulse research identified five beers in six-packs of bottles, four beers in six-packs of cans and nearly a dozen beers in 22 oz. bottles (and counting). That, of course, doesn’t include kegs.

While some other breweries, New Belgium being one example, will start off with 22 oz. bottles and kegs for “sampling” occasions and opportunities, Ballast Point has had success going in with what Kight calls the “kitchen sink.”

The strategy for entering those markets now? Capacity will increase by 25% in the late summer-early fall timeframe so Ballast Point is just seeding them with the intention of feeding them a greater supply in the fall. The goal is to not have tanks sitting empty once they are online.

On the new brewery front, Kight noted that Ballast Point found its new Little Italy location, which will also include a restaurant, while hunting for a much larger spot.

News on a new building for its 150-barrel brewhouse will come shortly but things are not yet finalized.

On the new beer front, Kight re-iterated that Ballast Point Fathom IPL is still set to be bottled in 22’s around the end of July.