SAN DIEGO – In about a month, the juggernaut that is Ballast Point Brewing will begin to make its effects felt here in Virginia’s Blue Ridge region.
A 300-seat restaurant is scheduled to open around Memorial Day and shortly thereafter brewing operations will commence, supplying the eastern U.S. and Europe.
The company originated in San Diego where the brand takes its inspiration from the ocean.
It’s easy to see how there is less than a degree of separation between the San Diego lifestyle and the labels that adorn the bottles and cans of Ballast Point’s various beers.
Bigeye tunas, sea monsters and skeletons that may have been pirates. Lots of skeletons. Lots of fish.
One man is behind all of that label artwork. His name is Paul Elder. He told us how he almost wasn’t that man because he didn’t see a future with the fledgling company that was about to bottle its first brew. At the time he recalls there were about six employees.
“I almost dropped the ball in the beginning. Jack said we want Yellow Tail Pale Ale. And it was six people, explained Elder shrugging. “Yeah, I'll get around to it. (But) the surf was good. Three weeks passed. Well I better do that. I did the sketch. It's on the website there's a pencil yellowtail.”
In fact, Elder says that while he was surfing, Ballast Point asked someone else to do the work. But they liked his sketch better and he’s been the man ever since.
Pushing 60, Elder still spearfishes and surfs whenever the waves are good.
He admits he enjoys seeing his work all over town and beyond -- on the sides of bottles, cans and even trucks.
"It's like being a 'tagger,' but you go to bed and sleep all night. I have somebody else do the trucks for me," he said comparing himself to the local graffiti artists.
“It's beautiful,” he said laughing.
The names for Ballast Point’s beers so far have mostly drawn their inspiration from the Pacific Ocean and the fish that live there. But eventually, there will be new brews and the inspiration will come from Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.
Looking at artist mock-ups of potential beers with names like Bunny Hopped – a mountain bike move, Blue Ridge Bass, and others, Elder wondered aloud if he could go beyond his tried and true nautical themes.
“I think the bicycling part is such a reach, said Elder. “It's a dilution. I don't know. I could see drawing freshwater fish. Rivers. But mountain biking?”
Later he would laugh and say he enjoys new challenges and would take this assignment in stride.
Like San Diego, where life is laid back, Elder seems to have found that happy place where surf and fun mix easily with work.
“I saw surfing. I started surfing, grades started dropping, school was being skipped and I'm so glad that happened because otherwise I might've had a regular job.”