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!

 

 

Locks of Love from Boundary’s Brewers

our soon to be shorn brewer, Anthony!

Join us in the Boundary Bay Brewery Beer Garden on Saturday, May 22nd for some seriously hair raising fun!  We’re putting together a big Locks of Love party and wooing you down to the beer garden with awesome beer and some sweet BBQ…but we’re really hoping you’ll get inspired to donate YOUR hair…right along side our brewers Anthony and Steve!  Anthony’s been growing his hair for years now and his long locks have become a familiar sight around the brewery.  But, on May 22nd, he’ll be cutting it all off for Locks of Love!  As will Steve, our brewer who SERIOUSLY hasn’t cut his hair since 1986 (minus a few splint end trims here and there!).  Don’t let them go it alone – join in on the hair cutting fun!

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. They meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics.  The mission of Locks of Love is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.  Recipients are financially disadvantaged children, age 21 and under, suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

Steve, our brewer with locks from 1986!

The children who receive these hairpieces have lost more than their hair; they suffer from a loss of self. Many children have been teased by classmates and/or embarrassed by the attention they receive because of their hair loss. They often will withdraw from normal childhood activities such as swimming, going to the mall or even playing with their friends. While wearing a hairpiece is certainly not a cure for these children, it can help restore some of the normalcy to their everyday lives that most of us take for granted. It is the Locks of Love goal to help provide a foundation on which they can begin to rebuild their self-esteem.

Most of the children being helped by Locks of Love suffer from an autoimmune disorder called alopecia areata, which causes the hair follicles to shut down. In addition to the loss of scalp hair, many also lose their eyelashes, eyebrows and all body hair. This hair loss is permanent in most cases, and there is no known cause or cure. Other recipients have been victim to severe burns, endured radiation treatment to the brain stem as a treatment for cancer, or suffer from any number of skin disorders that cause permanent hair loss.  There are several problems facing children who suffer long-term medical hair loss. Most wigs sold by retailers are made to fit adult heads, and are much too big for children to wear. They often require the use of tape or glue to keep them from falling off, and these adhesives can burn or irritate the scalp. Often, the styles of adult wigs are not age-appropriate and synthetic wigs can mat and frizz with excessive styling.

The hair prosthetics Locks of Love provides are custom-made from donated ponytails for each child’s head. They retail between $3,500 to $6,000. The hairpiece forms a vacuum seal, like a suction cup, and does not require the use of tape or glue. Only the wearer of the hairpiece may remove it, by breaking the vacuum seal at the temples. Children can dismiss insecurities about classmates pulling off their hairpiece, or losing it at recess. They can swim, shower and do gymnastics – in short, they can be kids again. Each hairpiece is made from real human hair, and arrives long, so the recipient may style it to fit their face.

So, wanna help?  If you’ve got hair to donate that’s 10″ or longer, then come down to the Beer Garden on May 22nd and get your hair cut for free!  We’ll have trained stylists on hand from local Bellingham salons ready and willing to part you of your hair.  And, once the deed is done, let Boundary Bay Brewery buy you lunch…we’re giving free BBQ lunches to all who donate their hair to Locks of Love! Stylists from Honey Salon and Bellisima Salon will be set up in the Beer Garden to cut anyone’s hair who’d like to donate to Locks of Love and we’ll even have representatives here from St. Joseph’s Cancer Center to provide support, answer questions and raise awareness.  This is a family friendly event and it’s free…so come down between Noon and 5pm to donate your hair or just to enjoy some BBQ and craft beer and cheer on those who are getting shorn!

basic donation guidelines:

• hair must by 10″ or longer, in a ponytail or braid, clean and dry (pull curly hair straight to measure it)
• layered hair works if the longest layer is 10″
• bleached/highlighted hair is not usable, but colored hair is usable as long as it’s not colored over bleached hair

Whole Weeks Devoted to Beer!

Ah May!  Spring has Sprung, we’re all feeling frisky and there are eleven whole days this month strictly devoted to celebrating all things craft beer!  Could this month get any better?!?  Seattle Beer Week kicks off May 13th and winds down May 23rd while American Craft Beer Week runs May 17th to the 23rd.  We suggest clearing your calendars now and cashing in on that vacation time you’ve got saved up at work.  This is gonna be huge!  Seattle Beer Week features all kinds of events happening at breweries, bars and bottle shops in the greater Seattle area and all the way up here to Bellingham.  Craft Beer Week, on the other hand, is a national celebration with thousands expected to participate.  The “Mother of All Beer Weeks” celebrates small and independent craft brewers and is a chance to highlight all that the U.S. loves about craft beer. In 2006, the week became the largest national effort focusing on American craft brewers and remains so today.

Here’s how we’re participating at Boundary Bay Brewery:

On Friday, May 14th, we’ll have our only event outside of our own brewery.  Collins Pub in Seattle 4-7pm is hosting Boundary Bay Night, where they’ll be “celebrating Washington’s finest microbrewery”!   They’ll have eight Boundary Bay beers on tap, including at least one cask and a special release beer or two. Not to mention schwag, food specials, and people from Boundary Bay Brewery on hand to charm you!  Collins Pub: 526 2nd Avenue, Seattle WA 98104. Phone: 206-623-1016.

Take part in Afternoon Delight at Boundary Bay Brewery on Wednesday, May 19th from  4-7 pm.  You’ll get to meet the Boundary Bay Brewers and sample vertical tastings of Cabin Fever and Old Bounder!  The beers will be paired with a selection of sweet and savory snacks.  Our Old Bounder is a rich, full-bodied barley wine.  Copper in color with a smooth caramel sweetness, warming alcohol content and balanced hop character.  Excellent with desserts or as an after dinner beverage.  The Boundary Bay Cabin Fever is a strong ale or winter warmer with dark red-brown color and avery rich malty flavor.  While this big beer is deceptively strong, it tastes very smooth thanks to extra long cold conditioning.  Try it with spicy foods, paired with rich heavy foods or all by itself!

Join us in the Beer Garden for a Highland Scotch Ale Release Party 4pm on Thursday, May 20th.  Our Highland Scotch Ale is rich and dark with a faint smokey finish.  Dark crystal and peated malts are added to achieve the elements unique to this historic seasonal.  This seasonal brew is hand made annually in commemoration of the Highland Games held in Bellingham each summer and this year we’ll be having a Highland Extravaganza in our Beer Garden to celebrate it’s arrival.  The annual Bellingham Scottish Highland Games includes competition in piping, drumming, dancing, and athletics and we’ll have competitors here to show you what they do!  Come enjoy BBQ while watching the Highland Games athletes, pipers and dancers!  We’ll have a special cask of this beer on hand for the party and the Highland Scotch Ale will be available on tap at the bar Friday, May 21st.

Join us in the Boundary Bay Brewery beer garden for a Locks of Love party!  The fun begins at noon on Saturday, May 22nd when two of our brewers are getting sheared and donating their hair to Locks of Love to help support the American Cancer Society.  We’re hoping other brewers from the greater Seattle area will join in…not to mention any of our usual customers who have 10 inches of hair to cut off and donate!  Stylists from Honey Salon and Bellisima Salon will be set up in the Beer Garden to cut anyone’s hair who’d like to donate to Locks of Love and we’ll even have representatives here from St. Joseph’s Cancer Center to provide support, answer questions and raise awareness.  BBQ and beer too, of course!