NW WA update

Been a bit since I've given an update, soo here goes.

Was in Anacortes for lunch the other day, and Anacortes Brewing is now brewing a Red IPA for the Cocoanut Kenny's chain of pizza places up here. First brew should be happening soon. Also, ABC will be releasing sours on a quarterly basis (on the Equinox's and Solstice's) and will be different beers each time. Draft and brewery only.

As noted elsewhere, Flyers has a new restaurant open at the Skagit Valley Airport, and Chuckanut's new brewery is being built just down the street.

Finally, Stone's Throw has a limited amount of beer available. Big Skip Brown is on tap at Boundary Bay, as part of the Beer Made By Walking program. BB also has a beer for this event, a variant of their ESB. Stone's Throw is also in the process of testing their brew system, and getting bathrooms installed in their tasting room. They're hoping to have beer in the system and the tasting room open by the end of the year. It's been a long slog for them.

Gruff Brewing is also starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and might be brewing by years end.

Boundary Bay will be releasing some brewery-only, C&C, barrel-aged versions of Oatmeal Stout, Old Bounder, Cabin Fever, and Scotch Ale, called the Bootlegger series, on December 11.

Structures Brewing is aiming for a late November opening. Their plan is to do some wilds and sours, but as those take some time to come to fruition, they'll be opening with a rotating list of quicker-to-produce brews. I'll admit that I was very skeptical when they announced that they were planning on being open by the end of the year. Mostly this was based on seeing how fast the City of Bellingham has moved with other projects of this type. Perhaps CoB is learning what breweries need, and any future brewers won't have the hassles others have.

Speaking of the speed of CoB, Subdued Brewing is jumping through those hoops right now, combined with beginning work on their building.

North Fork released their first bottled sour earlier this week, Electric Berryland. Only available at the brewery, but with Mt. Baker now being open for the season, I expect them to be gone quickly. I'm hoping to have a bottle to test soon. They've been doing some limited, brewery-only, draft-only sours for a while now.

Perhaps some Ale Apothecary bottles at Elizabeth Station? Those are whispers I've heard, no confirmation.

Bellingham Beer Lab is hard at work on their space, in what will be The Local Annex, right next door to The Local. Related, Menace Brewing continues to look for a bigger brew space in Bellingham, and when they get it, it's likely that their current operation, in Ferndale, will be available as a turn-key brewery, if someone is looking to start up.

 

Not when I have a friend going to Bend next week.

 

And just found this info on the Beers Made By Walking program: http://www.beersmadebywalking.com/p/bellingham.html

 

Kulshan's annual release of Old Tannenbaum is Tuesday, 11/24, along with their annual Ugly Sweater party.

 

Out of curiosity, what do they charge for it?

 

Plus, Wander is continuing to crank out great beers. Their wild/sour stuff has been really good. Aslan is markedly improved. @John_M was up for a brew last week, and seemed to like Aslans stuff. Kulshan is raffling off 5 92 Packs (Yes, 92!) of Bastard Kat as a fund raiser for the American Legion. I'm wondering what the hell I'ma do with 92 BKs!!! Cnut just released their Schwarzbier for the year, and it's damn tasty.

 

Made it out to the North fork yesterday, and I think we have a legitimate "Rare" Washington beer, Electric Berryland. Cork and Caged 750's, custom label, brewery only, only 144 produced. I posses 3 of them, prolly crack one tonight as a treat for my B-Day. They also had a couple other sours on tap; Where Is My Mind, and apricot sour that was decent, and Is She Weird, a dry-hopped sour that was very good. If you're headed east up 542, stop in and grab 'em while you can.

 

http://www.northforkbrewery.com/wedding-chapel

 

I don't have solid confirmation, but seems as if Structures will open this coming Wednesday, 12/2.

Edit: Right after I posted this, there was a message from Structures on FB. Opening is indeed Wednesday. Their hours are going to be Wed-Sat, 3-9. And they are cash only.

 

A friend and I went down to Skookum last week, where they had an absolutely phenomenal version of the Mammoth Jack ImpIPA, Citrus Mammoth, on tap. Lots of orange upfront, lime in the middle, grapefruit finish. I had two. Great beer. They also had an Old Ale with house-smoked Skagit Valley malt, aged with cherries that was very good. I've long thought that they are among our under-appreciated breweries.

On the way back, we stopped at Farmstrong in Mt. Vernon. Nice tasting room, food truck outside, plenty of room to grow, and a nice tap list. The beers were vaguely reminiscent of Skagit River's brews, which isn't a surprise. It's a worthy stop if you're up in the North Sound.

 

But, they are dog-friendly, which is a big bonus for me. Always a pooch or two hanging out.