Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits has just signed the lease on a 9,000-square-foot space on India Street in Little Italy, where the company plans to open a new brewery and tasting room by mid to late summer.

A five barrel system from Escondido's Premier Stainless is on order, along with ten fermenters, and the brewery is planning on brewing 20 batches of beer a month. Overseeing the new brewhouse is Ballast Point's Specialty Brewer Colby Chandler, who shifts to Little Italy from their Linda Vista brewery, which just got a new brewhouse of its own.

The Little Italy brewery will be primarily focused on research and development. About 75% of Ballast Point's employees are home brewers, and they'll all get the opportunity to test out recipes on this new pilot system with the hopes of finding the next beer to put into production. Resulting batches will be put on tap there and shared with the brewery's other tasting rooms in Linda Vista and Scripps Ranch.

The building has ample room for barrel storage, so Chandler may be expanding his sour beer program. A possible food component to the new brewery is also being explored.

· Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits [Official Site]

· All Beer Coverage On Eater [~ESD~]

