By Iron Chef Leftovers
Recently, 8 people and 1 dog made a trek up north to participate in the inaugural “North Sound Beer Tour” sponsored by no one. Starting in Bellingham, we tackled 6 breweries over 12 hours on a spectacularly beautiful day. I was going to originally write one long review of the tour and then realized that it would be an epic tome rather than a blog post, so I have since decided to make it a series. The breweries that we visited were (in order of appearance) Boundary Bay, Chuckanut, Anacortes, Flyers, North Sound and Skagit River. I am rating all of the breweries on a 5-point (five being the highest score) scale in 3 categories: Beer, Atmosphere and Dog Friendliness. So without further delay, I give you the 2011 North Sound Beer Tour:
Stop 1 – Boundary Bay Brewing in Bellingham
Bellingham is a nice little town and is blessed to have two pretty great breweries, located within walking distance of each other. Boundary Bay is one of my favorite NW breweries; they have a solid beer lineup and one of the better IPA’s in the region.
The Beer – My personal favorites were the IPA (no brainier) – a nicely hoppy, northwest style IPA and the Imperial Oatmeal Stout, which had a wonderful maltiness with overtones of coffee and chocolate. The Scotch Ale, not one of my favorite styles, was immensely drinkable and not that cloyingly sweet/syrupy beer that I usually associate with Scotch Ale. I thought that Scotch Ale was a strange selection for a summer beer lineup, but what do I know. There really wasn’t anything in the sampler that I didn’t like or wouldn’t order a pint of. They have a nice, 10 tap selection, but definitely weighted to the heavier NW style beers you would expect from a Washington brewer. They sell growlers to go and they do sell several styles in bottles, which can be found in the Seattle area. Overall, I would give their beers 4.5 out of 5 Flying Dutchmen.
The Atmosphere – I really like Boundary Bay’s setup. They are located on a main street, right across from the Bellingham farmers market, so there is plenty of street parking and paid lots if needed. The bar area is a converted garage with doors that will open and they have a sizeable deck for your outdoor seating pleasure. It really feels like a brewery with lots of wood and mismatched furniture. The atmosphere rates as 5 millibars out of 5.
Dog Friendliness – For a city that seems to be very dog friendly, BB is not. Dogs are not allowed on the outside deck and the deck is located on the side of the pub, so there is no good place to hitch up the pooch and keep an eye on her. Your best bet in the summer is to tie the dog to a tree in front and sit in one of the tables in the bar that are close to the doors. Not the best place in the NW to bring a dog – 2 tail wags out of 5.
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