Bellingham (part 1) & La Conner, WA

Buses and trains from Vancouver to Bellingham depart from Pacific Central station.

If you travel from Vancouver to Bellingham by bus, note that it could be delayed at the border crossing in Blaine.

It is necessary to get off the bus with all luggage and foreigners must pay a $6 fee for the documentation to pass through U.S. Customs and Border Protection checks at a land crossing.

 

Bellingham 

Although my bus was late on Wednesday 28 September, 2016, I was lucky to be met at Cordata Station, Bellingham by my second cousin Maureen. She lives in Bellingham and taught theatre at Western Washington University until retiring.

Thirsty weather for Tim on the South Bay Trail

Maureen drove to nearby Fairhaven and we went for a walk on part of the South Bay Trail which connects Bellingham to Boulevard Park and Fairhaven Green.

Driving back later it was time for my first beer in Bellingham, WA, at Elizabeth Station 'beer market and cereal bar'.

There is parking at the side and there are outside tables with bench seating at the front (1400 West Holly Street).

Aslan - Azacca Fresh Hop

The big windows at the front provide plenty of daylight for the tables and bench seating inside.

The main bar has 16 taps and details of the beers are displayed on a blackboard.
The beer I enjoyed (in a 10.5 oz glass, $4) was Aslan Brewing Co Azacca Fresh Hop, brewed in Bellingham.
Elizabeth Station also has a back bar with 8 taps of ciders, meads and gluten-free beer.

Before leaving, I chose some chilled cans from a wide range to take back to Maureen's house nearby where I was happy to be staying as her guest.

It was nice to see some paintings by her grandfather, Roland Ryder-Smith, displayed in the house.

The can of Silver Moon Brewing (Bend, Oregon) Chapter 2 Casual Ale (4.7% ABV) was enjoyed on my first evening in Bellingham.

 

La Conner

On Thursday, 29 September, Maureen kindly drove me south to La Conner, situated near the mouth of the Skagit River. Across the river lies the home of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.

First Street, La Conner, has several shops and boutiques and is the location for La Conner Brewing Company.

The premises includes a pleasant brewpub with friendly service which first opened in 1995.  Here we ordered lunch and I was able to taste several beers brewed on the premises.

 A flight of five beers was delivered on a tray with metal handles at each end.

From the beers listed on the blackboard above the bar, I chose Raspberry Wheat (5.5% ABV), Octoberfest (6.3%), ESB (5.3%), Ankle Biter IPA (6.2%) and NW IPA (6.8%). The pale Raspberry Wheat had a full berry flavour and was an ideal appetiser.

Maureen and I both enjoyed the Clam Chowder as a starter. The recipe for the La Conner Brewing version of this coastal favourite has been published online in recipesecrets.net by Chef Tom.

On the drive back to Bellingham, Maureen took the scenic route - Chuckanut Drive. A stop in a layby gave an opportunity to look back towards Skagit County and the San Juan Islands.

Once back at base, it was soon time for another can purchased from Elizabeth Station. This beer was brewed by Bellevue Brewing Co (located a few miles inland from Seattle) to celebrate the Washington Trails Association's 50th anniversary.

Beers with grapefruit are among my favourites so a Tangerine pale ale was also appealing.
Cheers Maureen!

Brewery Creek, Vancouver - part 5 (Big Rock)

On the afternoon of Sunday 2 October, 2016, the Caskmaster Grand Championship was hosted by Big Rock Urban Brewery.

This was one of the first events in BC Craft Beer Month (October). Ticket holders (Can$25) could sample cask ales from fifteen local breweries and vote for their favourite.
The breweries included R&B Brewing Co, Real Cask Brewing and Strathcona Beer Co. The 2016 winner was Main Street Brewing Co. Second place was a tie with Callister Brewing Co and Steel & Oak Brewing.

It was dark by the time I arrived at Big Rock Urban Brewery, on Sunday 2 October, after an earlier visit to 33 Acres Brewing, about half a mile away, higher up Mount Pleasant.

All the traces of the Caskmaster Grand Championship had been cleared away and few people remained. There is a large dining area (Big Rock Urban Eatery) at the front of the building but I went towards the back and found a comfortable seat at the bar with views of the lounge and brewery behind me.

The drinks menu lists beers served in 12oz or Pint measures and reasonably priced at Can$4.5 / Can$6 respectively. A flight of 4 x 6oz glasses costs Can$9. Rock Creek Cider and a guest tap supply alternatives to the beers brewed here.

I ordered a pint of Citradelic IPA (6% ABV, 67 IBU) as I like beers with Citra hops and this was no exception. English and Canadian malts are also used in brewing this copper coloured beer.

Beer story notes on the brewery's website mention 'BC Brewmaster Jody Hammell was given the keys to a brand new brewhouse, which was set up to do things our larger brewhouse in Calgary wasn't necessarily designed to do. Citradelic is the first of many delicious results of that plan. It has been such a hit with our west coast drinkers, that it's now won the right to debut across Canada.'

The brewery with its copper and stainless steel vessels certainly looks most impressive.
As I was staying near False Creek, it was only a short walk home after this visit, passing Olympic Village Skytrain station.

Big Rock Urban Brewery
310 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada


www.bigrockurban.com

Brewery Creek, Vancouver - part 4 (33 Acres Brewing Co)

33 Acres Brewing Co is located at 15 West 8th Avenue. There is a Mobi bike sharing station nearby and bicycle parking stands on the pavement in front of the building.

The walk from Broadway - City Hall, via tree-lined West 8th Avenue, is fairly level and passes Jonathan Rogers Park, with open views towards the mountains of North Vancouver, just before reaching 33 Acres Brewing Co.

Earlier, on the evening of Sunday 2 October, I met Lucinda off the 99 / B Line express bus from the University of British Columbia (UBC) at the Broadway - City Hall stop, just outside the entrance to the Skytrain station with the same name. This point is marked with a blue box near the base of the map above.

The 33 Acres tasting room was busy when we arrived. A high table with no stools was the only option at first but luckily we were soon able to find another table with seating. The room has a capacity of 60 and no reservations are possible.
We admired the minimalistic style of the room which is painted white and has big windows at the front. Some plants relieve the industrial style.
Coffee, from a sleek machine on the bar cournter, as well as beer are served here.
The beer I enjoyed here was 33 Acres of Ocean (5.6% ABV) in a style described as 'evolutionary from a typical IPA with an assertive hop, lower alcohol content, and a slight pine aroma.' It is brewed with hops, harvested near the Pacific Ocean, including Galena, Cascade and Citra.
Different food trucks provide food at most lunchtime and evening sessions except Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.
With Lucinda to talk to, there was no opportunity to take more photos at 33 Acres.
From here it would be easy to walk to Brassneck, R&B Brewing or Big Rock. Blog posts, with rather more photos from my solo visits, are also available for these brewery taprooms in the Brewery Creek / Mount Pleasant area.

33 Acres Brewing Co
15 West 8th Avenue,

Vancouver,
B.C., Canada

http://33acresbrewing.com/


Footnote:

Two days later, I would catch a bus to UBC to visit the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (MOA) with its superb collection that includes items from the Haida Nation including decorative pipes made from argillite.

Afterwards I met up with Lucinda, at her college, and she kindly offered me a bottle of Grapefruit Ale brewed in British Columbia by Whistler Brewing Co, a 5% ABV seasonal beer that is her favourite and has now become one of mine! Cheers!

Brewery Creek, Vancouver - part 2 (Brassneck Brewery)

Brassneck Brewery is about half a mile south from Main Street - Science World Skytrain station. It is an uphill walk from there or from Red Truck Beer Co, via Scotia Street, which was my starting point on Monday 3 October, 2016 and featured in the previous blog post.

The brewery vessels are visible through large windows that face Main Street.

The entrance is set back slightly from the street with a striking organic design on the approach to the door. The growler station is immediately inside and the bar / tasting room is beyond on the left.

Inside, the bar area was busy but luckily one place was available on a long table in line with the bar. If Brassneck Brewery is busy on a Monday evening it must be difficult to find a table at the weekend.
I was also fortunate to find myself sitting next to Christina, on a trip from Stratford, London, who was crossing the continent on her return to the UK via Raleigh, for a friend's wedding and New York City.

A blackboard shows the available beers priced at Can$2.50 for 6oz, Can$5 for 12 oz or a Brass Bat - flight of four 6oz glasses for Can$8 (excluding taxes).

The Brass Bat comes with a neat label listing the beers chosen.

My beers were No Brainer (4.5% ABV) Pre-Prohibition style corn lager, Brassneck Ale (5%), Ten times Ten (5.5%) American Pale Ale hopped with fresh Centennial from BC Hop Co and Passive Agressive (6.5%) dry hopped pale ale. The No Brainer was lacking in flavour, the Brassneck Ale reminded me of Fuller's London Pride. These beers weren't gassy like some keg beers and of the four, Passive Aggressive was my favourite and one of the top beers on this trip.

There were a lot of building, decor and furniture details to admire in the bar like polished concrete surfaces and the bark edged, thick wooden table. Perhaps the tree trunk had been floated down the Fraser river before being sawn into planks?

Timber of various shapes and colurs was also used to make partition walls to separate the bar area from the brewery area.

An end wall panel was illustrated with black and white graphic designs for the different Brassneck beers.

Before leaving there was a chance to have a quick look into part of the brewery area.

There is an opportunity to buy distinctive t-shjrts or trucker caps from the merchandise displayed above the route to the exit.
I liked the relaxed atmosphere at Brassneck Brewing and felt part of an exclusive club with its stylish design features and interesting beer range.

The third and final brewery visit on tonight's trail would be R&B Brewing, less than a quarter of mile away. It was now dark and my walking route would take me past the City Centre motor hotel with its mural fronting Main Street.

There are elevated views towards the centre of Vancouver from this part of Mount Pleasant. See the subsequent blog post for further details of R&B Brewing.

Brassneck Brewery
2148 Main Street,
Vancouver,
B.C., Canada

www.brassneck.ca

Opening hours for the taproom (Nov 2016):
Mon-Fri      2pm - 11pm
Sat & Sun 12pm - 11pm
Closed holidays