Ballast Point Brewing Co. Anaheim

Ballast Point Brewing Co., a San Diego-based brewery which was founded in 1996, has been open in Downtown Disney since January of this year. Their location in Downtown Disney is a beautiful 4,000 sq. ft. glass-enclosed bar and a traditional sit down dining area in addition to a 3,000 sq. ft. outdoor beer garden featuring seating that evokes lounging near a pool, and they’ve even made it a place where you can bring the whole family despite the prevalence of adult beverages.

Ballast Point reached out to us recently and hosted us as we tried several of their food items and a flight of beers. We also have a few items from other trips we have taken to Ballast Point (when we were not hosted). All of our opinions are based on our eating and drinking experience during all of our visits – the most recent one included.

Beer – Flight of Beers (4 for $13 or $3.75 for 1)

Ballast Point is known for their vast beer selection. In fact, they are currently having a ‘Summer of Sculpin’ celebration (runs until September 2nd, 2019). You can get a flight of beers featuring all 4 of their Sculpin’ brews for only $10. The flights are 4 ounces each.

Beer #1 – “Easy Seas”

Easy Seas – A citrusy Mimosa-inspired ale, brewed with orange juice and finished with orange zest. This tasted light and fruity. Maybe not the best choice for hardcore beer drinkers, but I found it to be very similar to the Citrus Radler Beer Cocktail from the DCA Food & Wine Festival this year.

Beer #2 – “Piper Down Scottish Ale”

Piper Down Scottish Ale – Sweetly complex with notes of caramel and toffee. This one tasted rich and malty, almost like it could be a dessert beer. It went down smooth – wouldn’t have minded having a larger glass of this one.

Beer #3 – “Fathom”

Fathom IPA – Crisp and clean with a touch of malt, zesty orange & piney hops. This was straight up delicious. Definitely going to get this one again on my next trip!

Beer #4 – “Pineapple Sculpin”

Pineapple Sculpin – A pineapple twist on their award-winning IPA (Sculpin); it is bright with aromas of apricot, peach, mango, and lemon (with the aforementioned pineapple twist). I have had the *regular* Sculpin and loved it, so when I drank this it took a few drinks for me to start liking it. Only in the sense that I had that familiar taste from the original Sculpin. My least favorite of the four options in my flight, BUT I’d still order it again. Not bad at all!

Sculpin IPA – Rated as a perfect 100 among beer critics, their flagship IPA It is bright with aromas of apricot, peach, mango, and lemon. This beer is fantastic. It has great, full flavor that you can make you want to simultaneously gulp the beer down and to sip and savor it.

Appetizers

BP Wings ($15.00) – Dry Rub W/Southern Style Comeback Sauce & Sculpin Buffalo Glaze W/Bleu Cheese Sauce

BP Wings – Dry Rub W/Southern Style Comeback Sauce. I’m a sucker for good wings and these ones had great flavor. I normally steer toward the more traditional buffalo wings like their other variety (featured below), but these were great and I’d easily order them again! The right amount of spice and good cripsy wings.

BP Wings – Sculpin Buffalo Glaze with Blue Cheese Sauce. These traditional wings had a GREAT sauce slathered on them. Hot, cripsy, and full of flavor. I loved both wings, but I’d have to give the edge to these ones…barely.

Entrees

Ballast Point Burger ($17.00)

This juicy burger is 8-oz of Kobe and Chuck Blend Patty, Sharp Cheddar, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Pickles, Rémoulade on a Brioche Bun, served with Fries (regular or garlic-parmesan). Nicole ordered it with the gluten friendly bun rather than the standard Brioche Bun for allergy reasons. For those who are concerned with cross contamination the french fries would be a no-go as they are not fried in a dedicated fryer. Nicole loved this burger quality and the Rémoulade sauce.

Chipotle Southwest Chicken Wrap ($16.00)

This wrap screams CALIFORNIA. It has grilled chicken, crisp romaine lettuce, grilled corn & black bean salsa, tortilla strips, queso fresco, avocado, and spicy comeback sauce, and comes served with fries (regular or garlic-parmesan). They were liberal with the avocado and I loved it. There’s something magnificent about a little spice in your food when coupled with avocado. Definitely recommend this to anyone who loves grilled chicken, avocado, and a little spice (it’s not overly spicy though).

Baja Style Fish Tacos ($18.00)

The Baja-style Fish Tacos have corn tortillas, beer-battered fish, cabbage, crema, pickled onion, cilantro, and come served with chips and salsa. Any fan of fish tacos will probably find these to be quite delicious. I enjoyed them but thought $18 was a little steep for this item because you only get two tacos and it comes with chips and salsa. I felt like it was a few bucks more than it should have been. That, however, is a small quibble. These were really tasty! The fish was high quality, and they had a nice touch of spice.

California “Kölsch” Steak Burrito ($18.00)

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Kids Chicken Tenders ($10.00)

The kids meals comes with a main dish (in this instance it was chicken tenders), a choice of side (french fries, fresh cut apples, chips, avocado, or raw carrots), a choice of drink (fountain drink, “Honest” Kids Fruit Drink, or milk), and for dessert they are given Animal Crackers. Our daughter ate two of the chicken tenders which means that she liked them because she is a very picky eater. I took a bite being the good dad that I am and thought it was a good quality chicken tender.

Kids Cheeseburger ($10.00)

The kids meals comes with a main dish (in this instance it was a cheeseburger), a choice of side (french fries, fresh cut apples, chips, avocado, or raw carrots), a choice of drink (fountain drink, “Honest” Kids Fruit Drink, or milk), and for dessert they are given Animal Crackers. Our other daughter ate her entire cheeseburger and said that it was “yummy” when I asked her about it. I’ll have to take her word for it, because I didn’t get my dad bite!

Dessert

Spring Berry Cheesecake ($9.00)

This cheesecake was made with goat cheese rather than cheesecake, toasted pecan and brown butter crust, sour wench berry compote with rosemary, and lemon creme fraiche. Dad loved this one while the kids took one bite and said “no more please!” I love goat cheese, so maybe that’s why I was more inclined to love this. It was rich, creamy, and a delight to eat (to me). If you have kids, maybe this won’t be the best thing to buy if you’re sharing with them, but if you love cheesecake and are ordering just for yourself then this is definitely a great dessert option.

Crème Brûlée Cheesecake ($9.00)

This Crème Brûlée Cheesecake caramelized pears, toasted pecans, brown butter crust, and is topped with vanilla sauce. I thought the tomato on top was random, but the rest of this was fantastic. The caramelized pears were woven in seamlessly to the cheesecake. Of the two I preferred the previously featured cheesecake above, but this one was no slouch.

All in all, we recommend Ballast Point. The food and drinks are high quality. As with all Downtown Disney locations the good food and drinks don’t come cheaply, but you are at least getting good quality with a great atmosphere. The service staff has been dynamite every time we’ve visited, including this more recent trip when they hosted us. As mentioned in the opening, we were hosted and given some of this food complimentary, but we have gone when we weren’t hosted. Our experiences have been good every time. Below are some pictures we snapped during our visits. Thanks for reading and check out Ballast Point if you haven’t been there yet!