Facing what its parent company calls an “operational collapse,” Ballast Point Brewing now teeters on the edge of shutting down for good. The legendary San Diego craft brewery, once valued at $1 billion, finds itself tangled in boardroom conflict over millions in allegedly fraudulent loans.
Kings & Convicts Holding Co. LLC, which owns Ballast Point, filed multiple lawsuits in April against board member William Trzos. The complaints, lodged in San Diego Superior Court, accuse Trzos of securing three unauthorized business loans totaling $3 million. Frozen bank accounts followed, threatening payroll, supplier payments, raw material purchases, and customer orders.
Brendan Watters, co-founder and CEO of Kings & Convicts Brewing Co., confirmed the turmoil through Instagram. He said an investor obtained loans under the Ballast Point name “for purposes unrelated to our business” without any knowledge or approval from leadership.
Trzos did not respond to interview requests. His attorney, Michael Buley, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Trzos controls 55% of the company and called the lawsuits a smear campaign. Court filings indicate Trzos has repaid roughly $2 million of the debt and continues negotiating the remainder.
Meanwhile, the brewery’s trajectory has swung wildly over three decades. Jack White and Yuseff Cherney founded Ballast Point in 1996, helping launch the craft beer movement. Its Sculpin IPA gained national acclaim for notes of apricot, peach, mango, and lemon. By 2016, the company moved nearly 431,000 barrels annually.
Constellation Brands paid a record-setting $1 billion for Ballast Point in 2015. That deal unraveled quickly. By 2019, Constellation sold the brewery to Chicago-based Kings & Convicts after scrapping plans for a San Francisco location. Ballast Point’s San Francisco taproom ultimately opened in 2023, then abruptly closed this June.
Three tasting rooms remain operational in Anaheim, Long Beach, and San Diego. However, the lawsuit warns of “imminent” closure for a brewery carrying thirty years of history. Kings & Convicts has requested a jury trial and seeks Trzos’s removal from the board.
