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!

 

 

Medals at the World Beer Cup

Brewers from six continents earned awards from an elite international panel of judges this week in the 2010 Brewers Association World Beer Cup—the world’s largest-ever commercial beer competition. The eighth bi-annual competition announced awards to brewers from 19 countries ranging from Australia and Italy to Iceland and Japan.  This year, 642 breweries from 44 countries and 47 U.S. states vied for awards with 3,330 beers entered in 90 beer style categories. The entries in each category were eligible for gold, silver and bronze awards. Judges presented a total of 268 awards.  And three of those awards went to Boundary Bay Brewery!

We are happy to announce that our Imperial IPA was awarded a Bronze Medal as was our Cabin Fever.  And our Dunklesbock brought home a silver medal!  We’ve got all three of these medal winners on tap now, so come try a pint or two!  It’s always an honor to compete against the best beers in the world, and to bring home a medal is just icing on the cake.  We think it’s amazing, as a small local brewery way up here in Bellingham, to be getting consistent attention on an international playing field.

We count our biggest successes, though, right here at home.  Boundary Bay Brewery was awarded the 2009 Small Business of the Year by the Whatcom Chamber of Commerce and was voted the Best Brewery in Washington for the last two years by the readers of Northwest Brewing News.  We’ve always placed a great value on having strong connections in our community.  We think it’s important to be a place that feels like home to our customers as well as to our employees.  Maybe that’s because we’re a family owned and operated business.  We’re happy to see locals feel that way too!  Check out what the 2010 Spring Entertainment Guide for the Cascadia Weekly had to say about Boundary Bay Brewery:

“One could easily say you can’t be a proper Bellinghamster without logging the requisite number of hours inside Boundary Bay.  But that’s not the case.  In order to truly be considered one of us, you must know the number of pints of the brewpub’s tasty but deceptively potent award-winning beer you can consume without succumbing to drunken foolery.  You also must know what your favorite menu items are and what nights you like to drop in to hear some of the plentiful live music that takes place there.  And when you realize you now spend your holidays at Boundary (everything from St. Partrick’s Day to New Year’s Eve comes to mind) instead of with your own family, that’s when you’ll know you’re here to stay.”

Whether at home or afar, it’s always nice to know that others like what we’re brewing. We’ve always brewed what we like to drink and it’s important to us to do it our own way.  We might not follow traditional style classifications, but we brew beers that we believe in.  We’re thrilled to add these three new awards to our collections.  Please visit our website to view the complete list of Boundary Bay Brewery’s awards.  Cheers!

Got Cabin Fever?

October is already over and cold weather seems to be upon us.  But don’t despair!  Our Cabin Fever will officially be on tap Friday, November 6th. This winter warmer has a dark red-brown color and a rich malty flavor that will complement your favorite spicy dish or any rich, hardy meal.

Specially brewed and bottled for the Pacific Northwest winters, this beer has been cold conditioned for a smooth, dry-hopped flavor.  Made with Mt. Hood, Warrior and Crystal hops, this big beer has a 7.2% alcohol level and is deceptively strong!  Just the thing to ward off the dark nights and cold weather. Our Cabin Fever has won a number of medals including a silver medal at the 2008 World Beer Cup (also won a bronze medal at the 2006 WBC!), the gold medal at the 2004 NABA, a bronze medal at the 2002 GABF, and a silver medal at the 1999 GABF.

Hurry down to the brewery on November 6th to grab yourself a pint of the long-awaited Cabin Fever.  Try it with our Mac and Cheese (everyone’s favorite!), our Hummus plate or one of Ralf’s soft pretzels if you’re looking for something a little lighter!

And, if you just can’t wait for the OFFICIAL release, join us for our Thursday Cask Night Happy Hour on November 5th.  We’ll be tapping the very first keg of our Cabin Fever for a little pre-release party!  Cheers.

Luckily, for those who don’t have the luxury of hanging out at the brewery as much as some of us, Cabin Fever will be available in 22 oz. bottles on Wednesday, November 25th!

Got Cabin Fever?

Ah the joys of winter…frosty weather, impending holidays, and seasonal beers to soothe all our wordly woes.  I am oh so happy to say that Boundary Bay Brewery’s winter warmer, Cabin Fever, will FINALLY be on tap at the brewery this Tuesday, November 18th.  With an original gravity of 1.072, this big beer is deceptively strong.  We use Mt. Hood, Warrior, and Crystal hops along with Pale 2-Row, Munich, Caraston, Dark Crystal, Chocolate Malts, and Oats.  Specially brewed and bottled for the Pacific Northwest winters, this winter warmer’s dark red-brown color and rich malty flavor will complement any rich, hardy meal as well as your favorite spicy dish.  However, with it’s cold conditioned, smooth, dry-hopped flavor, Cabin Fever is very satisfying all by itself.  Come in from the cold and grab a taste of this beer that won a Silver at the World Beer Cup in 2008, a Bronze at the World Beer Cup in 2006, a Gold at the 2004 North American Beer Awards, a Bronze in the 2002 Great American Beer Festival, and a Silver at the Great American Beer Festival in 1999.  Don’t go crazy this winter…get your Cabin Fever now!  And don’t forget, next Tuesday, you can grab yourself some 22 oz bottles of Cabin Fever since we’ll be bottling all day Monday.  This year, be the favorite guest at the Thanksgiving table…bring enough Cabin Fever for everyone!

Boundary Bay Brewing Company at the World Beer Cup

We here at Boundary Bay are pleased to announce that our Cabin Fever claimed a silver medal in the Strong Ale category at the Brewer’s Association World Beer Cup (WBC) 2008. The WBC is the largest beer competition in the world. It evaluates beers from around the globe and recognizes the most outstanding beers being produced in the world today. The World Beer Cup is a category driven competition meaning there are strict parameters like color, hop character and alcohol content that must be met for a beer to be submitted to a judging category. The World Beer Cup winners were selected by an international panel of 129 beer judges from 22 countries. This year, there were nearly 3,000 entries from over 600 breweries in 58 countries. Participation has increased from previous years with this year’s competition including almost 700 more beers than entries from 2006. This competition is serious to the point that medals are not given unless there are entries that exemplify the exceptional qualities the judges are looking for. Thus, beers are not simply judged to be the best of those entered, but simply…the best. Period.

Anthony Stone (one of our brewers), Ed Bennett (the owner) & Brian Bendix (our Seattle area distributor) traveled to San Diego to attend the Brewer’s Conference and to bring home Cabin Fever’s medal. While there, they had a unique opportunity to meet brewers from around the world to trade ideas and trouble shoot with. They gathered information on new equipment and new ideas for our up and coming brewery in Ferndale. They also got to sit in on discussions about sustainability and ways to lower the impact on our environment such as using energy more efficiently. One of the things Anthony likes best about the international competition is seeing first hand the differences between American and European brewing. He observed that, in general, European breweries often focused on preserving traditions and continuing the rich history that their beers or their breweries have embodied. Being a “new” brewing culture, North America (and especially the West Coast) has the freedom to be creative in their brewing and to break with tradition. Anthony appreciates the ability to always be changing and trying new ways to make the beer exactly what they want it to be.

Anthony Stone (left) , Ed Bennett (center) & Brian Bendix (right) at the 2008 Brewer’s Association World Beer Cup