We were lucky to catch up with Cameron Ball recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cameron thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Title: “If you don’t try, you’ve already failed.”

My Dad once said “if you don’t try, you’ve already failed” which continues to push me to take risks and pursue dreams.

My passion for craft beer started with home brewing while I was studying engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I was brewing 5 gallons of beer in a small pot on the stove and cooling it down by leaving it in bathtub full of water while hitting the night bar scene with college buddies. When I got home from the bars I would siphon the cooled wort into a glass carboy, pitch yeast and wake up the next day to fermentation. Beer was made! It was a simple and easy process but my engineering mind drove me to improve my process. After finishing grad school, I began building an advanced 20-gallon home brew system in the basement of my parents house to mimic professional brewers. Amongst many improvements, my previous ‘cool in a bathtub technique’ was replaced with double counterflow copper chillers fed with a flash chiller which changed cooling wort from 4 hours to 14 minutes. The science behind brewing kept pushing me to advance and improve my process.

I eventually reached a point where I was brewing 3 days a week, similar to many small breweries in San Diego. The time it took me to home brew 20-gallons of beer took the same time as a 10-barrel (310 gallons) batch of beer. I wanted to step up to the next level in brewing and brew on a much larger scale. Friends and family told me my beer was great but they were friends and family and expected to say nice things.

In 2014 I took a significant amount of risk and signed a lease at 8101 Commercial St in La Mesa, CA. It was an old towing dispatch office building that looked nothing like a brewery but I saw past that and the potential it would become. After 14 grueling months of gutting everything in there except the walls and the roof, design/permitting, rebuilding the interior components from the ground up and installing a 10-barrel brewhouse, I brewed my first 310 gallon batch of beer. I was never professionally trained in brewing but utilized my engineering background to problem solve and figure it out.

In summer 2015, Helix Brewing Co opened to a packed brewery of craft beer fans. The support was overwhelming. I was still unsure if my beer was ‘great’ as indicated by my friends and family but after seeing the same smiling faces a few days/weeks/months in a row I built the confidence in myself that I made great beer.

Six years later and one brewery expansion behind us, Helix Brewing Co continues to be the little powerhouse in the San Diego craft beer scene. We focus on quality beer in a friendly and comfortable atmosphere and pour 99% of the beer made at the brewery. I still brew all of the beer made at Helix Brewing Co. I am grateful to walk in to the brewery every day to see smiling faces, knowing that taking a risk created an environment that adds happiness to peoples lives. “If you don’t try, you’ve already failed.”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I embrace the active lifestyle by trail running, hiking, swimming, camping, snowboarding…..all while enjoying great beer at the end!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Our team is excellent. We strive to create a place people want to be at. Smiles go a long way.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I started with an SBA loan and a whole lot of risk!

Contact Info:

• Website: drinkhelix.com
• Instagram: helixbrewingco
• Facebook: helixbrewingco
• Twitter: helixbrewingco
• Yelp: Helix Brewing Co

Image Credits
Helix Brewing Co