How Does our IPA Stack Up?

The National IPA Championship (NIPAC) starts this weekend!  Not sure what the NIPAC is?  Here’s how Northwest Brewing News (who hosts the competition) explains it:

Participating IPAs from across the nation will be randomly chosen for a 1:1 single elimination bracket tournament. Winners of the first round will advance to the next. The complete IPA tournament bracket will be published in the February/March issue of Great Lakes Brewing News and posted on-line. The events will be held in several locations, beginning February 13, 2011. The judges will all be brewers.

As with last year, IPA lovers will be able to choose their winners for each round on-line. They will log onto the web and read a brief description of your beer as well as view an image (be sure to fill out the description on the entry form, as well as send an image or logo via email). Prizes will be awarded for readers with correct NIPAC brackets. The top prize will be a free case of the 2011 NIPAC championship IPA.

The Judging Process: All judges will be brewers. They will be organized into panels of 3, and given the task of choosing the best IPA between two beers. The judges will not know what beers they are being served. The majority rules on the voting.

BBAY Cascadian Dark

You still have time to make your predictions, but you’d better hurry because the deadline is tomorrow – February 13th! Visit the on-line Locker Room for full descriptions of each of the IPA competitors: After confirming your age, you will then be able to review the beers and go to our on-line contest . NIPAC winners will be determined by the total points earned from each round…and let us reiterate, you could win a CASE of the CHAMPIONSHIP IPA!  What’s not to love about that?!?

In the first round our Cascadian Dark (black in color, this aggressively hopped ale is smooth with a clean, dry finish. ABV: 7.5%  Hops: Columbus, Simcoe & Tradition) is paired up against Flashpoint IPA from Pumphouse Brewery (an American-style IPA made with Simco, Chinook, Amarillo, Cascade and Centennial hops.  ABV: 6.7%).

And our Boundary Bay IPA (a honey-colored India Pale Ale with good body, fairly strong alcohol content and an aggressive “fresh hop” quality.  ABV: 7.4%  Hops: Centennial, Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade and Crystal) is going head to head with Dale’s Pale Ale by Oskar Blues Brewery (America’s first hand-canned craft beer is a voluminously hopped mutha that delivers a hoppy nose, assertive-but-balanced flavors of pale malts and hops from start to finish. First canned in 2002, Dale’s Pale Ale is a hearty (6.5% and 65 IBUs), critically acclaimed trailblazer that has changed the way craft beer fiends perceive canned beer.  Hops: Nugget, Cascade, Columbus, Centennial Hops).

Both should be interesting match ups…we’re excited to see how they turn out! Cheers.

Round 1- February 13th @ Buffalo, NY

Round 2 – February 19th @ Syracuse, NY

Round 3 – February 26th @ Grand Rapids, MI

Round 4 – March 2nd @ Cleveland, OH

Final Round – March 5th @ Philadelphia, PA

The Best of 2010

It’s hard to believe, but another year is already drawing to a close and it’s got us in a reflective mood over here at Boundary Bay Brewery.  So, today…we’re looking back!

Cheers to our 15th Anniversary!

2010 marked our 15th anniversary and we had a fantastic party here at the brewery to celebrate!  We ranked as the largest selling brewpub in the nation for the third year running and were voted the Best Brewpub in Washington by the readers of Northwest Brewing News – also for the third year in a row.  The Northwest Brewing News Readers choice awards also named Boundary Bay Brewery for Best Scotch Ale and Best IPA…which makes our IPA the winner for the last five years consecutively!

In 2010, we brewed our first Tripel, made an anniversary ale called “15” and created a special brew to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of Village Books…and all were met with rave reviews! We got a new Mash Tun and installed our very first beer engine which now lets us provide our thirsty customers with not one but TWO cask ales every day.  We brought home medals from the North American Beer Awards, the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup:  Silvers for our Dunkles Bock (WBC) and our Porter (NABA) and Bronzes for our Cabin Fever (WBC), Imperial IPA (WBC) and Imperial Oatmeal Stout (GABF).

our logo come to life in St. Paddy's Parade!

We had the pleasure of helping over 100 local nonprofits and in bringing the community together for Bellingham’s first annual St. Patrick’s Day parade (thanks to Janet, our General Manager!).  We had a Locks of Love donation party with free haircuts in our beer garden and brought together lots of local and sustainable businesses for our very first Earth Day Sustainability Fair.  We surpassed 10,000 fans on Facebook, held our first (possibly THE first ever?) Virtual Brewers Night and took back the tap as the House IPA at Beveridge Place Pub!

And, besides all that, we’ve kept on keeping on…brewing and bottling all our usuals that you’ve come to know and love, serving up fresh and local Northwest food, hosting events here at the brewery throughout the year and doing our best to help keep Bellingham a strong, local, sustainable community.  It’s been a whirlwind and we’ve had a fabulous time!  We just want to say thank you to all of our incredible fans who are such an important part of what we do.  We could never be a success without the love and support we receive from our community.  So, cheers everyone…and thank you!

 

 

Hops vs. Malts in the National IPA Championships

Brewing News is holding their 3rd Annual National IPA Challenge.

As with last year, participating IPAs from across the nation have been randomly chosen for a 1:1 single elimination bracket tournament. Winners of the first round will advance to the next. The events will be held at beer festivals across the nation, beginning February 14, 2010 and the judges will all be brewers!

Round 1 is on Valentine’s Day in Syracuse, NY.

Our opponent in this first round is the Marin IPA from Marin Brewing Co located in Larkspur, CA. This should be an interesting match-up as our Boundary Bay Brewery IPA is all about the hops and Marin describes their IPA as having “more malt than most.”

Team: Boundary Bay Brewery
Player Stats: A honey-amber colored India Pale Ale with good body, fairly strong alcohol content and an aggressive “fresh hop” quality. A very refreshing beer, IPA can be enjoyed by itself for its many interesting flavor highlights. It also goes well with lighter foods like chicken, pasta, seafood or spicy foods.
ABV: 7.4%
IBUs: 67.5
Original Gravity: 1.074
Hops: Centennial, Amarillo, Cascade, Crystal

vs.

Team: Marin Brewing Co.
Player Stats: Dank West Coast IPA with more malt than most.
ABV: 6.8%
IBUs: 70
Original Gravity: 1.068
Hops: Cascade, Columbus, Centennial

Wish you could play along?  Well, you can!  As with last year, IPA lovers will be able to choose their winners for each round on-line.  Log on to the website to see images of each beer and read their brief descriptions.  Then pick your poison…fill out the brackets with who you think will come out on top!  Prizes will be awarded for readers with correct NIPAC brackets.

The top prize will be a free case of the 2010 NIPAC championship IPA!! And if that’s not enough of a reason to play, then maybe you just don’t love craft beer like we do!

Results of each round will be posted on-line within twenty-four hours of each round. Final results and winners will be published on-line and in the April/May 2010 issue of Brewing News.

Best of the Northwest

Well folks, it’s that time again. Northwest Brewing News is holding their annual Reader’s Choice Awards where you can cast your vote for best brewery, best brewpub, best beer (by style) and oh so much more! Enter your vote by November 15th by voting online or downloading the entry form and faxing it to (888)665-5007. Or, if you’re here at Boundary Bay Brewery, you can grab one of the voting forms in our foyer, fill it out over a nice big pint to fend off this autumn chill and we’ll fax it in for you when you’re done.

Here’s a look at the voting categories:

• Best Brewery
• Best Brewpub
• Best Pub/Alehouse
• Best Bartender
• Best Beer Store
• Best Homebrew Shop
• Best Beer (by style): Pale Ale, IPA, Amber Ale, Brown Ale, Double IPA, Porter, Stout, ESB, Scotch Ale, Imperial Stout, Strong Ale, Barley Wine, Belgian Ale, Wheat Beer, Pilsner, Bock/Dopplebock, Organic, Herb or SpiceFruit Beer, Wood-aged Beer, Sour Beer and Other.

Last year, Boundary Bay Brewery was voted Best Brewery in Washington State (tied with Elysian Brewing), Best IPA and 2nd place for Best Scotch Ale.  In past years, we’ve collected awards for Best ESB (2005) and Best IPA (2005 and 2006).  You can visit our website to see the list of all the awards our beers have won.  We love the Reader’s Choice awards because it’s the voice of the people we brew our beer for, so thanks to all who’ve cast their votes with Boundary Bay Brewery in the past!

Boundary Bay Brewery ties for Best Brewery in Washington State!

Every year, Northwest Brewing News holds a Reader’s Choice poll.  They ask hundreds of readers to vote online or by mail for best beer, best homebrew store, best bartender, best beer store, and best brewery.

This year, Boundary Bay Brewery tied with Seattle’s Elysian Brewing for Best Brewery in Washington State!

We also won Best IPA “hands down” according to Alan Moen, editor of Northwest Brewing News.

We are honored to receive these awards, particularly because they are from the readers of Northwest Brewing News.  These are the people we make our beer for, the people who come in on a regular basis after a long day of work and sample our craft.  Boundary Bay’s continued success has as much to do with the community we are a part of as it does the beer we brew.  Boundary opened in 1995 and, over time, became such a town fixture that locals often refer to it as “pure Bellingham.”  Ed Bennett, owner of Boundary Bay, said his goals were always to brew good beer, make good food, and create a place where the people of Bellingham could be comfortable coming together.  This unexpected success just illustrates how well he has achieved his goals.  Boundary Bay, as a whole, works hard to stay connected to its customers and to support local organizations, charities, and musicians.  The brewery also offers support to the Bellingham community by employing over 100 people during its busy seasons.  “We try to do everything that we can ourselves,” says Ed, “from having an in-house bakery, maintenance department, and graphics department, to doing all of our own distribution.  It’s just how we do things.”  Bennett also recognizes the craft beer community as a strong foundation for Boundary’s growth and success.  He commented that “the brewing industry has always been supportive and I am honored to be part of that culture.  We live in a great region for craft brewing and the Pacific Northwest has a strong presence in craft beer.”