Bellingham Beer Week is our favorite week of the year. Your neighborhood breweries put together their best events and bring out the big guns on beer releases. It’s a great excuse to come together with local beer drinkers and neighbors alike to enjoy a pint together and celebrate the very special craft beer community that Bellingham is lucky enough to have. Bellingham has become a craft beer destination in the Pacific Northwest, providing some of the nation’s finest craft beer to some of the nation’s finest craft beer drinkers. From April 19th to April 27th, we can all celebrate the sense of camaraderie and community that craft beer creates in our very special town. Here are just a few of the events throughout Beer Week that we recommend you don’t miss! This is just some of the events around town, there are countless more! If you have a favorite brewery in town that you want to spend some extra time with, then check out their website social media for their full event calendar. Cheers to Beer Week 2019!
Thursday, April 18th
Overflow Taps (Lynden)
Bellingham Beer Week Jeopardy
Overflow Taps (Lynden) @ 6 pm, free to attend
Test your Bellingham Beer knowledge Jeopardy style! This event is also a Wander Brewing tap takeover, so come ready to throw back a few pints from one of your favorite Bellingham breweries and slay the game of Jeopardy!
Friday, April 19th
Atwood Ales & GRUFF Brewing Co.
Release of Assistant to the Regional Manager Beet Beer
GRUFF Brewing Co. @ 7 pm, free to attend
Atwood and GRUFF have teamed up to bring us a delicious beet beer named after none other than Dwight Schrute of Schrute Farms on NBC’s The Office. There will be The Office-themed trivia and a costume contest, as well as plenty of beet beer to go around. The combination of GRUFF and Atwood is bound to be a funky one, so we are really looking forward to this release party. See you there!
Aslan Depot
Freehub Magazine Celebrates 10 Years of Storytelling
Aslan Depot @ 7 pm, free to attend
Freehub Magazine, a community-driven mountain bike magazine, will celebrate ten years of storytelling at the Aslan Depot on the first day of this year’s Beer Week. There will be food from Kid Sister Food Truck, live music from Black Water, games and the release of issue 10.1. If you are a member of the mountain biking community or the beer community, or just want to have a good time, make sure you don’t miss this awesome event.
Kulshan Brewing Co.
Kulshan Beer Olympics 2019
K2 (Roosevelt) @ 5 pm, free to attend
22 teams will compete in 8 Beer Olympic games for Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals (and bragging rights). Amazing prize packages for the winners, beer specials, and the most fun you’ll have all year! There will be spectator games if you aren’t signed up for a pre-registered team, but in the meantime, enjoy some pints and heckle the players! Food from Hot Mess food truck and West Coast Pops.
Don’t Miss: the unveiling of the new Twin Sisters Brewing Company tasting room, and $1 off pints at Wander for wearing a local brewery t-shirt
Saturday, April 20th
Boundary Bay Brewery
Cedar Dust Alley Party
Alley + Beer Garden of Boundary Bay, free to attend, family friendly
The highly-anticipated Cedar Dust Alley is opening this weekend! The kick off party will include bikes and obstacle courses for the kids, bike races for adults, a full tap list full of the Galbraith Mountain beer series in the beer garden, raffles, BBQ and live music. This sounds like such a good time! If you’re ready to get dusty, make sure you are at Boundary on Saturday night. Cheers!
Aslan Depot
Cornhole Championship of the Universe
Aslan Depot @ 12-3 pm, free to attend, 21+
See who out of the registered teams wins the title of the Greatest Cornhole-r in the UNIVERSE! There will be beer, there will be costumes, there will be opportunities to cheer on your friends. If you are as passionate about cornhole as you should be, don’t miss this tournament.
Structures Brewing
Die in Haze Draft Release
Structures Brewing, 12 pm, 21+
This special batch of Die in Haze is dry hopped with nine pounds/barrel of Mosaic and Citra hops, up from six pounds per barrel. This is by far the Structures team’s favorite batch of this beer to date, so if you’re in their fan cult, make sure you make it to try this beer.
The Local Public House
Bar Games Tournament
The Annex, 12 pm-4 pm, 21+
Teams of two will compete for the Local bar games trophy along with some pretty sweet prizes including Mug Club memberships, gift cards, swag, and bragging rights for the next year. The tournament will consist of 4 games: pool, darts, shuffle board, and Foosball. This event is for pre-registered teams but you are welcome to come spectate!
Stones Throw Brewery
Block Party!
Stones Throw Brewery, 11 am-8:30 pm, free to attend
Stones Throw’s latest block party will benefit the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Foundation and also plant 100 trees to celebrate Earth Day! Two really rad excuses to drink a beer and listen to some live music on Saturday. There will be multiple bands, food trucks and some Bellingham Cider Company draft features.
Sunday, April 21st
Aslan Brewing Co.
Barre at the Bar
Aslan Brewpub @ 10 am, $15
Aslan partnered with Coreworks Fitness Studio to bring you Barre at the Bar! $15 gets you a killer 45 minute work out and a cold beer afterwards. Reservations are encouraged so you can get your spot here.
Wander Brewing
Paper Airplane Contest
Wander Brewing, 2-4 pm, $5 buy-in
The 2nd Annual Wander Paper Airplane Contest benefits Blue Skies for Children. Make your best paper airplane and make sure it flies the furthest! There will be pints to assist honing in your paper airplane skills, one of which includes the collaborative Beer Week Beer made with Skookum Brewing, Dance Epidemic Hazy IPA. Cheers!
Monday, April 22nd
Kulshan Brewing Co.
Earth Day Pint Night
K2 @ 6 pm, free to attend, 21+
Celebrate Earth Day with Kulshan as they release their Earth Day IPA. With local malts from Skagit Valley Malting and Salmon-Safe hops from Roy Farms in Yakima, this IPA has wholesome bready malt flavors and big, bright grapefruit, mango and floral hop notes. Beer sales from this beer and event will benefit Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group and Kulshan’s donation will be MATCHED by Skagit Valley Malting. There will be fishy brewery games and giveaways as well as food from New Public Food Truck.
The Local Public House
Deutsche Nacht (German Night)
The Local Public House, 5 pm-10pm, free to attend
German night at the Local Public House. Pilsner, Kölsch, Doppelbock, Dunkelweizen, Bock, Marzen… Are you drooling yet? Come in this Monday night and join us to celebrate the tradition of German beers and food with an awesome beer line up and a special menu to pair curated by chef Brandon. PROST!
Tuesday, April 23rd
The North Fork Brewery
Collaboration Celebration
The North Fork Brewery, @5 pm- 9pm
The North Fork specializes in collaborations, as in they do a LOT of them. What’s the fun in beer if you aren’t sharing it? Not all of them are still around (which makes us sad), but many of them are and they’ll be taking over the taps at North Fork on Tuesday night. Most are in kegs, some are in bottles, others are in cans…and they’re diggin’ them all out of the back of the cooler just for Beer Week! There will be pizza specials, raffles and giveaways from all of the breweries and collaboration partners.
Kulshan Brewing Co.
Cribbage Tournament
K2 (Roosevelt), 6:30-9:30 pm, no buy-in
There’s no buy-in to play and the tournament winner takes home a cribbage board from Two Plants Woodworking. Get $1 off liters and enjoy StrEAT Food, fun prizes, and friendly competition!
Don’t Miss: Kulshan + Goods Local Brews collaboration release party @ Sunnyland
Wednesday, April 24th
Elizabeth Station
Elizabeth Station @ 5 pm, family-friendly, free to attend
Elizabeth Station is hosting a mid-week get-together to celebrate some of the relationships they’ve fostered making them able to bring some rad Seattle beer to the beer drinkers of Bellingham. Cloudburst and Holy Mountain will have several kegs on as well as the potential for some surprise special bottles. Don’t miss this if you love these breweries!
Chuckanut Brewery
Classical on Tap
Chuckanut Brewery, free to attend
This event, hosted by the Whatcom Symphony, will include talking about and playing classical music as a way of introducing those who have never considered listening to this genre of music. For those that love it and want to know more, the event is not only educational but fun. Executive Director, Gail Ridenour will talk about the pieces of music, its history and the musicians that are performing the pieces. She always leaves plenty of time for questions about the music being performed.
Wander Brewing
Brewingham Movie Exclusive Footage Release
Wander Brewing, 6:30 pm, family-friendly
See exclusive footage of the feature film being made about our very own special Bellingham beer scene! This is the perfect opportunity to geek out about the amount of awesome beer we have in this town. We can’t wait to see it!
Don’t Miss: Melvin Brewing Bellingham’s West Coast Wednesday: Battle of the IPAs
Thursday, April 25th
Aslan Depot
Funk Forum
Aslan Depot, 3 pm-10 pm, 21+
This is one of Aslan’s best events, featuring some of Bellingham’s best beers as well as some beers rarely ever found in Bellingham. Paying homage to sour, funky and wild beers, this is something you aren’t going to want to miss if you have adventurous taste buds.
The Local Public House
Interactive Tasting with Breakside Brewmaster
The Local @ 7 pm, $12
Brewmaster Ben Edmunds will be in the house to answer all questions about Breakside. Breakside is continuing to impress the beer community and just in the last year have been awarded Best of Craft Beer Awards Brewery of the Year and Oregon Beer Awards Brewery of the Year. Come down to the Local this Thursday to discuss/sample/enjoy 5 Breakside beers with the Brewer himself. $12 Will get you your beer AND access to a hear Ben talk and to try his creations right along side of him. There will be a Q&A at the end of the tasting and a raffle of sweet Breakside swag.
Don’t miss: Kulshan + Aslan Mountain Lion Collab re-release party @ K2
Friday, April 26th
Overflow Taps (Barkley Village)
4th Annual Pre-April Brews Day Block Party
Overflow Taps (Bellingham) @ 5-10 pm, 21+, free to attend
Join Overflow Taps for a night of celebration before Bellingham’s largest beer festival! Mr. Feelgood and the Firm Believers will be playing in the beer garden, there will be food trucks, a 50/50 raffle benefitting Max Higbee Center, as well as a showing of the Brewingham Movie trailer! $0.25 a pint (served in limited edition glassware) will be donated to Max Higbee Center as well. A party for a cause! Don’t miss out on this one.
Elizabeth Station
Beer Week Finale with Firestone Walker
Elizabeth Station @ 5 pm, family-friendly
Join Elizabeth Station as they wrap up Beer Week with a stacked tap list from Firestone Walker from Paso Robles, CA. Firestone continues to make amazing beers, blazing trails for craft beer around the United States over the years. Some of the most sought after beers carried by Elizabeth Station are from Firestone, so it seems appropriate that they’d be their Beer Week Finale!
Don’t miss: Kulshan Brewing’s Barleywood Squares + Greenwood Beer release @ K2, Aslan Brewing’s Lagerfest at Aslan Depot, Stemma Collab night at The Local Public House
Saturday, April 27th
April Brews Day
Depot Market Square @ 6:30-10:30 pm, 21+, pre-purchased ticket required
The event that caps off Beer Week 2019 is always April Brews Day, Max Higbee Center’s largest fundraiser of the year. There usually ends up being a line around the block to get in and taste beer from 65+ PNW craft breweries (with some cider as well!) There is live music from Out of the Ashes, Black Water & GrooveBot, countless food vendors, and every person you’ve ever met in Bellingham with a beer in their hand. This event is highly anticipated for good reason, and the perfect finale to Bellingham Beer Week. Cheers!
