The cat’s out of the bag: On Jan. 13, Beach Cat Brewing Company announced a planned expansion into Bellingham via Facebook. As with their original location in Birch Bay, this secondary space — nicknamed “South Paw” — will be situated on the waterfront. Director of Operations Jake Gobeille said they plan to welcome customers as soon as spring or early summer.
Beach Cat’s flagship tap room will remain at 7876 Birch Bay Dr., Suite 101. However, Gobeille said the expansion would allow them to scale up production and “supply both our Birch Bay tap room and our Bellingham tap room with some of the beers that people have now grown to love.”
The new location at 1010 C St. in Bellingham also features bay views and prime outdoor seating. But while Gobeille hopes to maintain the same “inclusive, community-driven” atmosphere as the original, the Bellingham iteration of Beach Cat has its own personality.
“We want it to match all the things that we do in Birch Bay, but it will have more of that traditional, big-brewery experience, where you come in, you’ll be able to see the brewery,” he said. “You’re going to be able to get a lot more of the beer [knowledge], because that’s what Bellingham is known for.”
Beach Cat opened its doors in August 2020 and advertises itself as “Whatcom County’s smallest brewery.” Most beer names take inspiration from cats: Tortoiseshell Hazy IPA, Calico Jack Porter and Cats Blue Ribbon American Lager, just to name a few.
And while Beach Cat’s team is excited to join the Bellingham beer ranks, they have no pretensions of being “hyper-local” to the city. Gobeille said Birch Bay is still their home, noting “there’s no place like it in Whatcom County.”
“We really want to focus on Birch Bay as our community while also trying to integrate our community spirit, and our community involvement, into Bellingham, so that we can earn our [place] here in town,” he continued. “Because we want people to go to both.” Info: beachcatbrewing.com.
Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.