Bellingham’s Kulshan Brewing has these big plans for its waterfront beer garden
Kulshan Brewing Company is going big with its beer garden plans on the Bellingham waterfront.
The Bellingham company is busy getting its Trackside beer garden ready for the summer. An official opening date hasn’t been announced, but Kulshan is hoping to have it ready later this month, with the ultimate goal of being open by the Fourth of July, said Emily Mallos, marketing and events manager for the brewery.
Once open, hours will be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, closing at 9 p.m. on Sundays. The plan is to keep Trackside open into the fall, as long as the weather is nice, Mallos said.
The beer garden’s features include:
▪ At about half the size of a football field, it’ll have lots of room. It will have a large grassy area for lounging, picnic tables and yard games next to the bike pump track and near Waypoint Park. Also in the works is a music stage for live events.
▪ There will be 16 taps of Kulshan beer available at Trackside, along with cider and non-alcoholic beverages. A rotating food truck schedule is also being planned.
▪ The brewery will be in four shipping containers. One of the containers will have a one-barrel brewery that will primarily be used for research and development for new brews. Kulshan is also planning to release a beer to celebrate the opening of Trackside called Pump Track Pale.
The idea of converting a shipping container was mostly a cost-effective one and it worked with the building constraints on the Port of Bellingham’s property, Mallos said in an email.
The Port is installing other shipping containers nearby and will feature other local businesses, said Mike Hogan, spokesman for the Port, in an email. The Port is working with Bellingham’s burger restaurant The Filling Station, an ice cream shop called The Selkie Scoop, a coffee and pastries business, and a local retailer to open this summer
The shipping container village is expected to be around for years and the Port will look for businesses that support a live, work and play environment on the downtown waterfront, Hogan said. It might move around as permanent buildings are constructed in the district.
Hogan said the Port is also putting in public restrooms, adding a new skills area in the bike park and is working with the city on a possible skate park under the Roeder Avenue bridge. The Bellingham Farmers Market has also begun its 4-7 p.m. Wednesday markets on the site, which will last through the summer.
This story was originally published June 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
