A couple weeks ago, on September 16th, one of the best-loved breweries in Washington celebrated a big milestone. Actually, Boundary Bay Brewery might be one of the best-loved breweries in the world. I toss out such lofty praise not just because of my personal feelings, but also because it is hard to imagine a brewery that has been more completely embraced by its community. And, for the past 25 years, Boundary Bay has happily and completely embraced them back.
There are something like a dozen breweries in Bellingham these days, but everyone knows that Boundary Bay laid the foundation and set the standard. Not just in terms of beer quality, but in terms of community. If you open a brewery in that town, you better plan on being a good citizen. If you’re not, Bellinghamsters will turn their backs on you and might even chase you out of town.
In the video below, created by one of the employees at Boundary Bay, the story of how the brewery came to be and has grown over the years is laid out beautifully. It’s a pretty damned good video and a pretty damned good story. I got a bit verklempt at times. I even learned some things. Anyway, cheers to Ed Bennett and Janet Lightner. Nothing left to say except thank you!
25 Years of Community | Boundary Bay Brewery from Boundary Bay Brewery on Vimeo.