Local

5 stories highlight shifts in Bellingham’s brewery scene

Stories by Bellingham Herald journalists, with AI summarization

This collection of stories explores major developments for Bellingham breweries over the past six months.

Boundary Bay Brewery announced it will close after nearly 30 years, marking the end of an era. Stemma Brewing Co. opened a new location in the former Twin Sisters Brewery space, bringing new life to a well-known spot.

Garden Path Fermentation shut its Bellingham taproom, showing how some businesses struggle in the current market. Otherlands Beer earned a spot among the top 10 brewpubs in the country. Washington breweries narrowly avoided a steep state tax increase, which could affect small brewers if proposed again.

Read the stories below.

Boundary Bay Brewery on Tuesday, May 10, in Bellingham. By Staff

NO. 1: ‘A DEEP LOSS FOR BELLINGHAM’: BOUNDARY BAY BREWERY ANNOUNCES PERMANENT CLOSURE IN 2025

“A Bellingham anchor! Hard to imagine Bham without Boundary Bay Brewery.” | Published November 12, 2024 | Read Full Story by Alyse Smith

The upstairs bar at Otherlands Beer at 2121 Humboldt St. in Bellingham.

NO. 2: BELLINGHAM BREWERY NAMED ONE OF THE TOP 10 BREWPUBS IN THE COUNTRY BY USA TODAY

The local brewery ranked seventh in the nation. | Published March 8, 2025 | Read Full Story by Alyse Smith

Twin Sisters Brewing Company’s Lullaby Imperial Stout and rotating hard cider at the brewery’s outdoor beer garden in Bellingham, Wash. on Aug. 4, 2023. By Alyse Smith

NO. 3: BELLINGHAM BREWERY OPENS INSIDE TWIN SISTERS’ PREVIOUS TAPROOM, AND THEY’RE POURING PINTS

The brewery took over Twin Sisters location. | Published March 27, 2025 | Read Full Story by Alyse Smith

Bill Rink, Adam Hagen and Paige Hagen wait as their drinks are refilled at the outdoor tap set up the Octoberfest celebration at Chuckanut Brewery in September 2016. By Staff

NO. 4: WASHINGTON BREWERIES JUST AVOIDED A STEEP TAX INCREASE THAT’S EXPECTED TO RESURFACE

“Margins are already tight. Increased taxes harm our desire to do business in Washington.” | Published May 13, 2025 | Read Full Story by Alyse Smith

A block of Holly Street between Commercial and Bay streets in Bellingham, Wash., is one of the areas that will be closed to vehicle traffic in summer 2020 to allow businesses to expand outdoor seating and inventory to help with social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. By City of Bellingham

NO. 5: ‘IT’S ROUGH OUT THERE.’ LOCAL BREWERY CLOSES DOWNTOWN BELLINGHAM TAPROOM AND LOUNGE

The shop closed May 3. | Published May 10, 2025 | Read Full Story by Alyse Smith

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.