Four 4th’s with Boundary Bay

It’s Casey Diggs favorite holiday, so Boundary’s doing it big; and all around town. Here’s where you can get your fill of BBay this Independence Day:

Freedom BBQ in the Beer Garden [FREE, All ages] Rather than our usual Fish Fry, we’re going to be doing some good ol’ fashion BBQ Grillin’ in the Beer Garden. After all, nothing says ‘Merica like cold craft beer and a BBQ. The grill will be hot Noon-8pm. FREE Live Music by Odd Ones Out and The Vonvettas (5:00-8:00).  [*Note: Our Tap Room and Bistro will be open on the 4th, 11am-8pm] Happy Birthday USA. Cheers!

Yes we CAN! Canned Craft Beer Festival Spend Independence Day with 20 of your local brewers, neighbors, friends, and your family at RE Sources’ Yes, We Can! Craft Beer Festival at Elizabeth Station. Games for the kids, beer for the parents, live music by Hot Damn Scandal, Moongrass and more.  Kicks from the Bellingham Circus Guild, and a great view of the fireworks for all. If you want to avoid paying the processing fee, you can purchase your tickets online or in person right here at Boundary.

Haggen Family 4th The Chamber of Commerce and Haggen throw their annual 4th of July Party and fireworks display at Zuanich Point Park (11am-11pm). The’ve got the whole day loaded with events; check it out. Boundary will be providing Beer for the festivities. Fireworks at 10:30pm!

Party on the Herald Head to the Herald building and watch the fireworks from the best seat in Bellingham! Purchase of a ticket gets you to the roof, and includes food, beer, and live music.  All proceeds of this event go to support the Downtown Bellingham Partnership, an organization uniting the diverse interests of downtown Bellingham.

Beer Pairing Dinner

Join us for an intimate night of meticulous pairings on Monday, March 3rd at 6 o’clock in the evening. A 5-Course Beer Pairing Dinner, lead by Boundary Bay Chef, Matt Hansen and Brewers, Aaron Jacon Smith & Bryan Krueger . All five courses will be expertly paired with a Boundary Bay-infused beer:

• Course 1: Stewed Boar and Apricot Goulash with Roasted Pistachios paired with Irish Red infused with Red Wine Soaked Apricots

•  Course 2: Blonde Ale Poached Egg over Mushroom Ragout and Brioche with Tarragon-Blonde Hollandaise paired with Not Shawn’s Saison

•  Course 3: Cured Salmon with Nettle Puree and Grapefruit Caviar paired with Dry-Hopped ESB

•  Course 4: Cassoulet with Confit Duck Leg paired with Wonderland Belgian Strong Golden infused with Sweet Orange Peel and Juniper

•  Course 5: Guajillo Black Forest Torte paired with TBA (2012 Old Bounder OR Guajillo/Cherry infused Lost Giants Imperial CDA OR Licorice, Allspice, and Juniper Oat Stout with Irish Dry 50/50 blend)

Join us in the Bistro for our first Beer Pairing Dinner of the year! By reservation only ($55 per person).  Tickets are available for purchase at Boundary Bay.

StrangeBrew Fest Warms Up Weekend

Our Boundary Bay Brewery crew finally found it’s way back from StrangeBrew Fest this weekend over in Port Townsend, WA.  A festival purely designed to tempt (challenge?) your palate as brewers from all over the Puget Sound brought their weirdest, wildest and, of course, strangest one-off beers of the year.  For example, Elysian Brewery (who tied with us for Best Brewery in Washington State thanks to a Reader’s Poll in Northwest Brewing News magazine!) showed up with a Belgian Sour Persimmon Ale and a Cucumber Chai Pumpkin Ale.  We took down a Ginger Peach Blond Ale and an Oak Aged Cabin Fever.  Both of our brews were gone pretty darn quick and requests for us to brew the Ginger Peach Ale more often continue to come in!  Despite the Ginger Peach’s popularity, however, Elk Head Brewery was declared the official winner of StrngeBrew Fest and Flyers Brewery was awarded the People’s Choice.  Anthony, one of our brewers, went to StrangeBrew Fest and here’s what he had to say about it:

Anthony, our brewer!

“This was my third time at the StrangeBrew Fest and, strangely, my memories of the first two are a little blurry!  I always look forward to this brew fest as an opportunity to try some interesting beer and talk to some truly great people.  This is a brewer’s beer fest.  I look forward to meeting other brewers and talking shop over some unique beers.  This beer festival also give me a yearly booster shot of creativity and refreshes my passion for brewing.  When I first started home brewing five or six years ago, Skip (one of the owners of Water Street Brewing and a founder of StrangeBrew Fest) used to be the headbrewer at Boundary.  He was my first brewing mentor and used to give me feedback and encouragement on my homebrew.  My homebrew might have fit in at Strangebrew, actually!  The weirdest was an ale bittered with wormwood instead of hops and it was BITTER.  My first time going to Strangebrew, I noticed that Boundary didn’t bring anything “strange.”  Last year, I brought some Ginger Peach Blonde Ale which got some good responses.  It was even more popular this year when I brought it again, but with more ginger this time.  I also brought an Oak Aged Cabin Fever this year.  Strangebrew is great for home brewers and professionals alike…to have fun and remember why we love brewing beer.  I love working in a field where I can talk to “competitors” to share ideas and inspiration.  That doesn’t happen in most industries.  It’s also really fun to walk through the crowd and hear people telling their friends how much they loved your beer.  It’s gratifying because I just brought beer that I would want to drink and it’s nice to know that other people want to drink it too.  Cheers!”  -Anthony

Featured Boundary Bay Brew: Dunkles Bock: All German, All the time!

Our traditional German-style Bock is made with all German malts and has a low hop flavor with a deep copper color.  It is strong, full-bodied and bottom fermented.   Apparently, it’s a consistent favorite as it’s won awards at the North American Beer Awards in 2004, 2006, and 2007 as well as at the Great American Beer Festival Awards in 2004 and 2001.  We’ll be releasing this long time favorite on March 18^th so if you can still stand after your St. Paddy’s Day celebrations, come on down to Boundary Bay Brewery and sample our Dunkles Bock – perfect with one of Ralf’s Bavarian pretzels!

Boundary Bay Brewing Co.’s ‘Jack of All Trades’ Aaron Joella enjoys Boundary Bay Brewery’s award winning Dunkles Bock.  If you fancy his Dunkles Bock shirt, they will also be available March 18th at Boundary Bay Brewing Co.’s online store.