Ballast Point To Open Brewery, Restaurant & Rooftop Bar In Fulton Market District

By Stephen Gossett in Food on Jul 27, 2017 7:48PM

Ballast Point

Chicago's crowded beer scene will soon make room for a familiar name from the West Coast. San Diego-based Ballast Point announced on Thursday plans for a new multi-use facility Fulton Market.

Slated to open early in 2018, the 12,000-square-foot space will include a "research and development" brewery, taproom restaurant and rooftop bar, according to the company.

Drinkers can expect to see a handful of limited-edition, Chicago-only beers, plus Ballast Point's regular roster. The brewery is probably most well known for their IPA (not surprising from a California brewer), the flagship Sculpin IPA—a 7 percent ABV, 70 IBU number that leans on the floral, fruity end of the IPA spectrum.

Ballast Point has six tasting rooms in California and a brewery and tasting room in Virginia. This will be their first move into the Midwest. The Tribune reports that the Chicago brewery will take root on Green Street in a former pork processing plant—which is pretty much the cycle of Fulton Market these days.

Ballast Point started out in 1996 and ran as an independent brewer until beverage titan Constellation Brands, Inc. (Corona, Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo, Pacífico,) acquired the brand in 2015 for a whopping $1 billion, looking to beef up the craft end of its portfolio. Constellation also has offices in downtown Chicago.

This post has been updated.