San Diego's Ballast Point brewery expects to continue to grow in the coming year and company officials say they hope to continue to be a local economic force.
The San Diego beer-maker was bought by a New York-based company for $1 billion this week.
Ballast Point officials said the sale won't change how the company is run. The company currently has four San Diego brewing locations, with the largest at Miramar.
Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA outsells every other beer in San Diego County.
Earl Kight, chief commercial officer, said Ballast Point is already working on brewery projects in Temecula and Los Angeles.
Kight expects the Ballast Point beer to be available in more places by this time next year.
"We could possibly be in all 50 states by then," Kight said. "Currently, we're in 34 with a couple more launching before the end of the year. We'll most likely expand our distribution into some additional countries outside the United States."
Founder Jack White and the management team will continue to lead the organization. Kight called it an exciting time.
"I would hope people are ecstatic and proud that they had a brand that came out of San Diego that's been recognized worldwide as a leader in quality and award winning beers," Kight said. "We have no intentions of changing that."
Kight said being owned by the nation's third largest beer distributor will get their product to more markets and he said there's a chance it could be sold in other countries within a year.
"People are passionate about this product and about the way the industry is unfolding," said Omar Passons of the Craft Beer Association of San Diego.
Passons said he is not sure this means a lot of other local brewers will be bought out by bigger companies. He said it does mean the local success is being noticed outside San Diego and he expects the local craft beer industry to remain strong.
