Alright all you fans of Boundary Bay Brewery…get ready to clear your calendars for the end of THIS week. You better just plan on moving in here at the brewery! This Wednesday, September 16th, is the official 14th Birthday of Boundary Bay Brewery. Some of you loyal fans have been right there along with us since we opened our doors in 1995 and we can’t even begin to explain to you how much that matters to us.
We’re celebrating our birthday on Thursday, September 17th down in the Beer Garden. Come join us for free cake and ice cream during our Happy Hour (4-6 pm) and stick around for Happy Hour Music brought to you by Robert Sarazin Blake. We chose to delay the celebration by one day so we could all celebrate this momentous occasion by raising a glass of this year’s very first Harvest Ale. Making it’s debut as our Thursday Cask Ale this week, this Autumn seasonal ale comes once a year and is brewed in limited quantities so don’t miss this chance to taste this beautiful red-orange beer with rich malty flavors. This is our Autumn seasonal beer that bears only a distant connection to the German “Oktoberfest” style from which it gets its inspiration. Our take on the Oktoberfest style results in a full bodied beer with maltiness as the predominate flavor…perfect for our cool fall evenings. Get here by 4 pm to get your first taste. But, if you miss out on Thursday’s cask, it will be officially on tap here at the brewery Friday, September 18th.
And speaking of Friday, the 18th…here’s what so many of you have been waiting all summer for! It has been a summertime tradition for Boundary Bay and the Pickford Theater to join forces and show movies in the beer garden. Sadly, this summer, it didn’t happen. But, we just couldn’t let a whole summer go by without at least ONE movie in the garden. And, if we can only show ONE movie…it’s gotta be The Big Lebowski! Come dressed in costume if that’s your thing and bring blankets or pillows for comfy movie viewing. The movie will start around 9 pm, but come early to score a sweet seat and grab some beer battered rockfish and chips from our Beer Garden grill to satisfy your munchies before the movie starts. The grill – and our Garden Bar – will be open at 4 pm!
On Saturday, September 19th, if you’re still looking for a little Boundary Bay Brewery action, you’ve got a couple options. The Bellingham Traverse starts and ends right here at Boundary Bay Brewery so come get an eagle eye view of this area’s best racers! All teams gather to finish the last leg together as they “trek” the last 1/2 mile to the finish line at the Depot Market Square and Boundary Bay Brewery where they are awarded a nice cold Traverse Ale. Each year we brew the Traverse Red Ale and welcome the racers to the finish line with open arms right here at our brewery! A generous amount of Vienna, Crystal, and Chocolate malts give this ale a big malty body with a deep ruby color. The addition of Centennial, Mt. Hood, and Liberty hops provide a smooth refreshing finish, creating a perfect summer session beer to cool off with after a long “Traverse.” The awards ceremony for the racers begins at 6 pm and then live music from The Special Purpose kicks off at 7pm!
September 19th is also, strangely, Talk Like A Pirate Day and you can be sure of a little pirate party here at the brewery to celebrate such a strange and silly holiday. Costumes are welcome all day long and we’ll be sportin’ our pirate attire and talkin’ like a pirate whenever we can. As the Traverse awards ceremony wraps up, our Pirate Party will be moving down into the beer garden with our own Master of Ceremonies (David Ney of Pirates R Us!) will be taking the stage at 9pm. There will be a costume contest (with prizes!) and awards given for Best Pirate Joke and Best Pirate Haiku!