The Fastest Growing Craft Beer Company In The Nation

While Ballast Point remains a small portion of Constellation's overall business, its incredible growth rate cannot be overlooked. Ballast Point posted a depletion growth rate of more than 60 percent in the Q1.

Constellation Brands made a splash in the craft beer industry last November when the company announced the purchase of Ballast Point for $1 billion.

Ballast Point was set to launch its own IPO in 2015, worth approximately $153 million, before Constellation Brands shocked the beer world with the record acquisition. Constellation's stock is up over 23 percent since the acquisition was announced.

Constellation Brands has aimed to keep Ballast Point's operations and management in tact, while the company focuses on what it does best — distribution. Constellation Brands has grown Ballast Point's distribution by 40 percent since take over and aims for Ballast Point to be in all 50 states by the end the calendar year. Ballast Point also hopes to boost its East Coast presence with a new Virginia brewery.

In terms of predicting future growth, CEO Rob Sands said, "Ballast Point, we're not even talking about that because the growth is so high that one cant even say. It's the fastest growing beer in the entire craft segment in the entire US on what's getting to be a very big base, okay. I mean, we can't even talk about double-digit growth because it's so high. It's triple digit sometimes."

Clearly, Constellation remains very bullish on the prospects of its new acquisition. With the U.S. craft beer industry reporting 6 percent growth and accounting for 21 percent of total U.S. beer sales, Ballast Point is positioned well to be a leader of the industry in the near future.