[EP 81] In this episode, we visit a place that helps people who want to make beer... or where you can just visit and taste the beers that are available! As always, Unexpected English offers you practice listening to fun, and in less than five minutes. Use the complete transcription below to help you if you need it!

Hi everybody, welcome back to another episode of Unexpected English. This is episode 81, and it's a very short episode because I know it's getting to be a very busy time with the holidays. We're in December now, everybody's busy, but I thought I would give you just one more podcast before the year ended. So let's go!

[Interview]

Alright, so here we are at Ballast Point Brewery. How, how long has this been here, this place?

Well, this place has been here longer than Ballast Point brewing actually has existed. This was the very first Ballast Point. So we started originally as Home Brew Mart.

Home brew means if you're making that beer at home, right?

That's right! For people making their own beer at home. You can do the same thing with wine and all of that. So we started as a Home Brew Mart in '92.

And do a lot of people make beer at home?

More than you might think! It's a pretty popular business for sure. Ever since it became legal in the US in the 80s, it's become a burgeoning thing to do by, by yourself at home.

Alright, so you can make beer at home, if you know how, and you buy your supplies here.

That's right buy your supplies here, your ingredients chances are you have quite a bit of the equipment that you need already in your kitchen, nd all you would need to know is what goes into beer and what the ingredients need in order to become a good beer.

So originally, this was the Home Brew Mart to help people brew their own beers, and then they expanded and got the brewery location here as well.

Yes, so we started as Home Brew Mart as a way to get into the brewing industry. Our founder figured that was a good way to get started in the brewing industry. So four years after we opened in '96 is when Ballast Point officially became a brewery and started to sell to the public. And then from there, 10 years later, we opened a larger production facility and has since exploded in production.

So, are there particular styles of beer that Ballast Point is known for?

Yes, we're very well known for the sculpin IPA. It's a very dry, very clean drinking dry IPA. It's a kind of classic for the West Coast, but we're known for several other IPAs, as well as some flagship beers that we've been brewing for decades now, like the California Koelsch and the California Amber. 

Alright, you know the only problem... every time I do this, it makes me thirsty... makes me thirsty. Okay, thanks for your time. And thank you for listening!

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