By Iron Chef Leftovers

Continuing on the North Sound Beer Tour with our next stop, Chuckanut Brewing.

Stop 2 – Chuckanut Brewing in Bellingham.

Just down the street from Boundary Bay, about 10 minutes on foot, lies Chuckanut Brewing, sort of the antithesis of Northwest brewing. Owned by Wil Kemper (the same guy who created the Thomas Kemper brand years ago) and brewing with a high malt, low hop European style, Chuckanut has cleaned up with several GABF medals and high praise.

 The Beer – I get the sense that this was not the group’s favorite place, but I personally loved the beer. They had 6 beers on tap – all very summer appropriate, but not the kind of range that you are going to please a large group with. My favorites were the pilsner, brewed in a traditional Bohemian style with refreshing maltiness and just a hint of hops; it give the consumer a sense of what Budweiser probably tasted like in the early days. The Session Blonde was smooth and easy drinking; I could have easily knocked off several pints of that one. If I had to pick one overall, it would be the Kolsch. Probably my favorite style of beer for sitting outside on a sunny day, Chuckanut’s Kolsch was refreshing with a nice maltiness and a hint of flora overtones to it. Chuckanut also makes an English Style IPA. Coming in at a whopping 45 IBU, it is an IPA for non-IPA drinkers. While I am not a fan of the British IPA style anymore, it was a solid beer, reminding me more of an amber ale than an IPA. Chuckanut’s beers are available on tap only, so I would recommend taking home a growler or six of your favorites. Overall, I would give their beers 4 Lederhosen out of 5.

 The Atmosphere – Chuckanut sits just outside of downtown Bellingham in a converted warehouse. The space is large and has the brewery on one side and the taproom on another. Inside is nice – high ceilings, minimal decorations, not too fancy; a nice place to kick back and quaff a few brews. Outside there is a spacious patio with tons of room overlooking the water. The only drawback is the lack of shade – it can get pretty toasty out there on a sunny day. They lose a half point for lack of shade; otherwise they would have gotten a perfect score – the atmosphere rates as 4.5 Cumulonimbus clouds out of 5.

Dog Friendliness – It doesn’t get much dog friendlier than Chuckanut. Dogs are allowed on the patio, right at the table with you. The staff was nice and brought out a bowl and water for the pooch. I am pretty sure that they would have brought out beer for the dog if we asked. Chuckanut scores 5 chew toys out of 5.

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.