We are excited about this week’s new brew. Pat Brophy, assistant buyer for specialty spirits and beer, as well as The Whiskey Hotline representative, puts our curiosity to rest about Ballast Point and the future of the beer industry.

Tell us about Sculpin.
I think it’s one of the best examples of the West Coast style IPA on the shelves. Nice malt balance, sticky and resinous hop profile and extremely bitter finish. The 7% ABV is barely detectable. It’s a world class IPA, expensive, but it’s in bombers too and is worth every penny.

How do you think Ballast Point will do in the Chicago market?
I think it’ll take off with a bang and then settle down after a couple of months. We see that with all new-to-market breweries. It adds to a growing list of powerhouse west coast breweries in Chicago. There are a lot of highly regarded, highly rated, sought after breweries from California that we don’t see in Illinois. People have been clamoring for Ballast Point for years and their beer is outstanding across the board, so I don’t see this as a brewery people will try once and not return to.

What’s your history with Binny’s?
Well, I started at the Buffalo Grove store about 4 1/2 years ago as a Customer Service Manager. A little less than a year later I went to the Schaumburg store as the Assistant Manager, then I went to Downers Grove for a few months after that in the same role. After a few months at Downers Grove I took over the St. Charles store as the General Manager, and then a little less than a year after that I joined the corporate buying team handling beer and specialty spirits. And the Whiskey Hotline of course!

Where do you see the beer industry in 5 years?
I see it getting more and more localized. We’re at a point where we have so many breweries, they are becoming hyper local. People in the towns and sometimes even neighborhoods with breweries are very loyal to their local beer, but everyone still likes to explore. That’s the real beauty of craft beer. We all have our favorites, I’m a particular homer about Chicago breweries, but there is always something new to experience in addition to the local favorites.
I also think breweries will have to continually innovate in a landscape that is now so full of breweries. It used to be you could open a brewery and make a pale ale, an IPA, an amber ale, and a Scotch ale or a stout and have fairly predictable success. But there are a TON of those styles that are great and readily available. The more breweries we have, the more they have to be different from the ground up.
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